Creating A Rift
by DianaDirectioner
Summary: Makana and Butchy couldn't be happier. Their wedding was less than two months away and the planning was going pretty well. What happens when someone new comes along and could cause everything to fall apart? Will they be able to handle this bump in the road or will it be too hard to handle?
1. Start of Something

**_Hey guys! The sequel to Broken Record is here! So exciting! I want to give a shout out to my friend, CherryGorilla for the amazing ideas and support! Thank you! XD_**

* * *

Butchy turned to face the woman as he tucked his side of the table cloth under one of the circular tables. "Who are you's?" Butchy questioned.

The blonde glanced around the restaurant before her gaze met Butchy's. "I-I'm Juliet." Juliet started as she watched Butchy with a shy, yet intrigued look. "Juliet Harmon. I believe I'm a bit lost. I've never been here before."

"Name's Butchy. This is Big Momma's. I's can help you's when Lugnut over there is done with his side of things."

"Go ahead." Lugnut said as he adjusted the table a bit. "I'll get one o' the soifers to help me. Mick will be over in a little bit to make sure everything is where it needs t' be."

"Yeahs, yeahs. I'm just makin' sure she doesn' get into trouble." Butchy sighed as he brought Juliet over to one of the booths. As they sat across from each other, Juliet smiled.

"I am terribly sorry for interrupting you and your friend."

Butchy shrugged. "That's alright. We have a couple months to finish this so it's nothin'."

"Well, alright. So, where exactly am I?"

* * *

Mick sighed happily as she exited the house. In just three hours, the girls had turned her into a pin cushion while attempting to sew on the red sash of Mick's dress; combed, teased, curled and re-adjusted Mick's hair; applied and re-applied makeup and even started talking about the honeymoon. Mick was exhausted. Her eyes felt heavy and she could hear her stomach shouting at her to eat something.

Mick shrugged on one of her leather "Rodent" jackets and tugged on some flats as she walked toward Big Momma's to see how things were. As the building got closer, the more Mick was hoping that they had finished it. All they had to do right now was set up the tables and hang up a couple simple decorations; surely they would be done by now.

As Mick entered, she noticed Lugnut on a ladder with nobody supporting it, Tanner and Rascal attempting to fix one of the tables, and Butchy talking to some random girl in a booth. Mick thought nothing of it at first, Butchy was a very kind person and this person probably needed help with something. As Rascal called her over, however, her opinion changed. Out of the corner of her eye, Mick saw the blonde place her hand on Butchy's with a smile.

Turning, Mick felt a fire in her chest and a pain in her stomach as she watched the girl stand and walk toward the bathroom with a giggle. Mick took a deep breath, pushing back the hurt so she could help Rascal and Tanner.

"Mick?" Tanner asked as he watched her. He watched as Mick's eyes watered, her fingers were trembling and her shoulders shook lightly as she picked up one of the vases and placed it on the table.

"I'm fine, Tanner. Just tired." Mick lied as she faked a smile.

The surfer watched the brunette with worried eyes as he helped her arrange some flowers. Rascal and Tanner shared a look as they watched their friend attempt to feign happiness. There was no way she was "just tired". Her eyes flared with anger as she watched the blonde girl return to her seat across from Butchy.

They needed help. They needed to find out why she was acting the way she was. Preferably before she took it out on anyone else.

* * *

After fixing a few more tables, Tanner brought Mick down to Lela. As they entered the house, Lela came down from her bedroom and sat down on the couch. Mick groaned as she flopped down on the couch in exhausted frustration. Confused at her best friend's actions, Lela stood back up and pulled Tanner into the garage.

"What's wrong with Mick?" Lela questioned as she closed the door.

"I don't know, Lela. We were fixing Big Momma's for the party when she started acting weird." Tanner replied with a confused shrug.

Lela sighed. "Something had to have happened." Lela said before thinking. "Where was Butchy during all of this?"

Tanner thought for a moment, "He was talking with a girl. I've never seen her before, but she-"

"What was this girl wearing?" Lela asked.

"A blue dress. It looked like your red one."

"That's it!" Lela exclaimed. "Mick saw that she was wearing blue and polka dots. She knows that polka dots are my thing and that blue is her thing! Mick wanted to let this girl know, but didn't want to be mean. That has to be it!"

Lela smiled before taking Tanner's hand and going back to Mick.

* * *

Butchy sighed in relief as Juliet left the table to go use the bathroom. Juliet wasn't bad or anything, she was just friendly and Butchy felt she was just nervous about this new place. She was very nice and Butchy figured she was around his age. Butchy glanced over at his fiancée, watching as she talked with Tanner and Rascal. Sighing as Mick laughed, Butchy wished he could've been over with her, talking with her, holding her, distracting her with a hug.

Mick glanced over to Butchy with a small wave before turning back to her task. ' _She doesn't look happy.'_ Butchy thought to himself. ' _Maybe I should go- never mind.'_ Butchy mentally sighed as his attention was dragged back to Juliet. Butchy inhaled deeply as the blonde sat in front of him. He liked Juliet. Not in a "potential girlfriend" way, but as a friend. She was a kind girl who was scared of her new and unusual surroundings.

All in all, Butchy saw her as a new friend and nothing more. Juliet, on the other hand, liked what she saw in Butchy. The blonde blushed as she talked to the brunette biker. "Thank you so much for helping me. I feel so lost here."

"You shouldn't. We're all good peoples here. No doubt any one of us would've helped." Butchy shrugged as he sipped at his drink.

Juliet smiled softly as she twirled her hair around her finger. Butchy shifted uncomfortably as he watched Tanner and Mick leave the hang out. He knew he probably should've gone after her, but how was he supposed to with Juliet commanding his undivided attention. Butchy sighed as he saw the doors swing shut, signalling that his fiancée and ex-rival had left.

"I'm sorry, Juliet, however, I needs to go." Butchy claimed, standing and moving away from the blonde.

"Wait!" Juliet called. "Will I ever see you again?"

Butchy sighed. "I come here every day, Juliet."

"Okay." Juliet waved. "I'll definitely see you again, Butchy." the blonde sighed to herself.

* * *

As Lela sat down next to Mick, Mick sighed and turned to her friend. "I think I know what's going on with you, Mick." Lela stated with a friendly smile.

"Really? You do?" Mick asked in hopeful disbelief. She hoped Lela knew so she didn't have to explain it, however she wasn't entirely sure that it was possible.

Lela nodded, her black locks moving over her shoulders. "You feel like the new girl is trying to steal our looks. Don't worry, polka dots can be shared, Mick."

Mick groaned and shook her head. "That isn't what's wrong, Lela."

"Oh." Lela said, tilting her head a bit. "What is it, then?"

Mick sighed. It was hard to describe jealousy. Especially when Lela and Tanner had never felt jealous before. "In my world, there's this feeling called jealousy. It's this feeling you get when you see someone with someone or something you want. It's very confusing and very hard to deal with. You just want whatever that person has. I am jealous of the new girl. She had Butchy's attention. I wanted to talk to him, but _she_ was distracting him."

Tanner sat next to Mick and gave her a one armed hug. "It's alright. She has to go at some point, right?"

"Yeah... Can we change the subject, please? I really don't want to talk about it. Not yet, anyway."

Tanner and Lela nodded as Mick stood. "What are you doing, Mick?" Tanner asked.

"Lela, would you like to show Tanner my dress while I go talk to my parents?" Mick questioned as she poked her thumb toward the garage door.

"Ooh!" Lela exclaimed before taking Tanner's wrist and pulling him up to her bedroom.

Mick chuckled before going into the garage and starting up her machine. Sighing, Mick stepped inside the machine and left for her home in California.

Mack and Brady were watching Wet Side Story again as they started talking. "I wonder how our Princess is." Brady thought aloud.

Mack nodded. "Hopefully she hasn't been stressing too much. She often pushes her self too hard in order to get something done."

"Mm. Maybe she'll stop by soon. We haven't seen her in a while."

"Brady, it's been three days. She has until the sun goes down there to come back. She knows how it works." Mack defended gently as she turned her gaze back to the movie.

"Intrusion. Intrusion. Move over and let your daughter sit on the couch." Mick smiled as she spoke in her deepest voice from behind the couch.

"Makana!" Mack exclaimed as her daughter popped up between her and Brady on the couch.

"Hey, Momma." Mick giggled as she hugged her Mom tightly.

"Princess, I've missed you." Brady claimed as he held his daughter close.

"I've missed you too, Dad." Mick smiled as she hugged her Dad, "I have something I need to talk to you guys about"

"You aren't pregnant, are you?" Mack asked.

"W-what?! No! Mom! No! We haven't even gotten married yet!" Mick exclaimed.

"You never know, baby girl." Brady teased as he watched Mick go around the couch and sit between him and Mack.

"Well, I know." Mick sighed as she pulled one of her knees to her chest. "And, no, no pregnancies yet. I just have a problem that I need help with."

Mack smiled as Mick brought their teasing to an end. "Alright. What's wrong?"

Mick sighed. "There's this new girl in Wet Side Story. I think she's trying to take Butchy away from me."

Brady shook his head lightly, rubbing his daughter's back. "Why would anyone do that? Everybody knows about the two of you."

"I don't know!" Mick exclaimed as she felt the tears she had been fighting start to burn her eyes. "But she's pretty and blonde and tall and even Rascal thinks she's beautiful! How could Butchy possibly still like me after he's met her?!"

"Makana Kaya Birch." Mack started, drawing the eighteen year old's attention to her. "You are gorgeous and don't you _dare_ put yourself down like that. Butchy fell in love with you because of who you are. If he's smart, he will stay with you no matter what."

"But, Mom-"

"No 'but's, Princess." Brady cut in, "You need to believe in yourself, not what other people say or think."

"But I'm scared!" Mick exclaimed as hot tears fell from her eyes.

"Of what?" Mack questioned, rubbing the tears off of Mick's face.

"I-I do-on't want t-t-to lose But-chy." Mick cried as her chest and shoulders heaved with her sobs.

Mack sighed quietly, pulling Mick into a hug as Brady put his arms around his girls. "It'll be alright, sweetheart. Have faith in yourself. Butchy will never stop loving you. He cares way too much to just stop loving you."

Mick choked out a breath as Mack and Brady guided her to stand. "Stay here tonight. Get some rest and, in the morning, things might be better."

"I h-hope s-s-so." Mick shuddered as Mack gave her another hug. Wiping the tears from Mick's eyes, Brady wrapped Mick in his arms before picking up his daughter and carrying her up to her room.

"It's good to have you back. I really missed you."

Mick smiled and gave her Dad one last hug as he set her down in her room. "I mi-issed y-you too, Daddy. I-I lo-ove you."

"I love you too, Baby Girl." Brady replied, pressing a kiss to his daughter's forehead. "Get some rest."

"I'll try." Mick grinned as she walked over to her closet to change.

After getting into shorts and one of Brady's old t-shirts, Mick climbed under her blankets and fell into a light sleep.

* * *

 **BLOOPER TIME!**

* * *

 **"Go ahead." Lugnut stated before accidentally pulling the table cloth, sending a vase off the end of the table and onto the floor. "Or not! Help! Butchy! Help me!"**

 **"No ways! You do it!"**

 **"No!"**

 **"Ugh." The director sighed. "Cut! And will somebody pick up the glass already?!"**

* * *

 **Mick watched Juliet stand and walk toward the bathroom when all of a sudden the brunette collided with one of the cameras, smashing her forehead into the lens.**

 **"Ow! Sorry!" Mick called as Butchy ran over.**

 **"Cut! Somebody please get her some ice!"**

* * *

 **"Intrusion! Intru-"**

 **"I'm sexay and I know it!" A ringtone cut in from off screen.**

 **Mick slapped her hand over her face as both Butchy and Tanner reached for their phones. "Seriously?!"**

* * *

 _ **Sorry the bloopers aren't that good, but it's my first attempt. I am so pumped for this sequel. Let me know what you think, in the comments!**_

 _ **-Snaps**_


	2. Butterfly

When Butchy arrived back at his house, nobody was in the living room. ' _She's probably upstairs with Lela.'_ Butchy thought to himself. Heading upstairs to Lela's room, Butchy heard nothing that would indicate that Mick or Lela were there. No laughing, no talking, no... anything. Just in case, Butch knocked before stepping inside the pink room.

"Sis?" Butchy called, taking a few steps in.

"Hang on a minute!" Lela called from her closet. As she emerged from the room, Butchy noticed some stray threads dangling from her hair and clothes. "Sorry. I was fixing Mick's dress. She is terrible at sewing."

"Where's Mick?" Butchy asked as he pulled a thread from his sister's hair.

Lela looked away a bit. "I don't know if she wants me to tell you where she is."

"Why wouldn't she?" Butchy asked as he watched his sister.

She had to lie. Lela hated doing it, but she had to to cover for Mick. She didn't want Butchy to chase her and end up making things worse. "She wanted to try on her dress, but you came in and she panicked. She doesn't want you to see her almost naked."

"Why would she not want me to see that?" Butchy questioned. "She sleeps in the same bed with me every night. I've seen it before."

"She just doesn't want you to see her dress yet. Not until the wedding."

"Oh. Well, tell her I'll be waiting down the beach. I'm ready for when she wants to leave."

Lela tilted her head a bit in confusion. "Leave? Where are you going?"

Butchy smiled. "She wanted to do something later. Just ask her." Butchy stated before leaving.

Lela sighed as she walked back to her closet to finish up the dress. She knew that, eventually, the lie would come out. Lela closed her eyes tightly as she hoped her brother would forgive her. Picking up the thread, Lela started sewing again.

* * *

Mick yawned as she pulled herself downstairs. It was past ten in the morning and Mick was very thankful for the extra rest her parents had given her. Mick smiled as she watched her mom put a plate of food onto the island.

"Thank you, Mom." Mick smiled as she sat at the counter.

"Your welcome. Did you get a good sleep last night?" Mack asked, rubbing her daughter's back lightly.

Mick nodded with a sigh. "Yeah. Sorry I kinda flipped on you guys last night. I was just-"

"We know. And, trust me, I know how it feels to be jealous and hurt. It will all be over with soon enough."

Mick nodded, eating some of the slightly warm food. "I just feel so stupid and frustrated and worried and-"

"Hurt." Mack finished. "I understand. Why don't you let me go talk to Butchy? I can try to understand his side of things before we conclude that he could be cheating on you."

"Please don't tell him that I think he is." Mick pleaded, turning to her Mom with a hopeful look.

"I won't. You just stay here and hang out with your Dad." Mack claimed with a kiss to her daughter's forehead.

Mick nodded, shoveling more food into her mouth. "Phank yuh." Mick mumbled as she covered her food stuffed mouth.

"Your welcome, baby. I'll be back in a bit." Mack stated as she headed to the back door. "I love you."

"I love you too, Momma." Mick replied as she swallowed.

* * *

Butchy sighed as he sat on the rock he proposed to Mick at. He had been walking for quite a while and Mick still wasn't back. He had considered going back to the house to see if she was okay, but he ended up deciding against it. He didn't want to rush her or make her feel more dragged into the dirt than she already was.

Watching the water in front of him, Butchy smiled. Every time he saw the waves crash, he thought of Mick. His life had changed so much and it was all because of one person. He knew they were going to be married soon, yet he still felt like he had to impress her. Butchy never thought this would happen; that one, short, brunette girl could change him.

He wouldn't change any of it.

As his brain wandered to the brunette, he took no notice of the teen's Mom approaching him. Mack climbed up on the rock and put a hand on Butchy's shoulder. Butchy jumped, turning to the older woman with a 'deer-in-the-headlights' look on his face.

"Oh. Hey, Mack. Where's Mick?" Butchy asked as he settled down.

"Back home with Brady. I need to talk with you for a while. Without Mick around, of course." Mack stated calmly.

"Okays. What do you's want to talk about?"

"How are the wedding plans going?" Mack questioned, watching Butchy's face.

Butchy shrugged. "Goods, I guess. Mick an' Lela 'ave been doin' most of it."

Mack nodded, knowing the two girls had probably taken the reigns on the plans since the beginning. "How's Lela?"

"She's good. Been a little high strung with all those plans goin' through her head."

"Good." Mack smiled, "How's the new girl?"

Butchy's gaze snapped to Mack's as he answered, "What? How did you's?"

"Butchy," Mack started, placing her hand on Butchy's shoulder, "I'm a Mom. When my daughter comes to visit, she tells me everything."

"Yeahs, but I didn't think Mick even noticed Juliet. I thought she's was busy with Tanner and that other soifer."

Mack took a mental note of the name Juliet before guessing, "Seacat?"

"No. The other annoying one." Butchy said as he fixed his vest a little.

"Rascal." Mack assumed.

"Yeahs, that one. I's was tryin' to help Juliet with the fact that she's in another world, but she doesn't get it." Butchy sighed, "I saw Mick leave Big Momma's, but I's haven't seen 'er since."

"Did you try to think about reasons for why you haven't seen her?" Mack questioned before stepping down from the rock.

"No, I didn't. Why?" Butchy asked back.

"Maybe a little thinking could change that. Good luck, Butchy." Mack settled before walking back toward the house.

Butchy sighed before turning back to the ocean. What had he done that could've made Mick not want to see him?

* * *

Mick laughed as she and Brady practiced the Father-Daughter dance for the wedding. Brady had been tripping over every little thing; the rug, shoes, even his own two feet. It had taken about an hour for him to actually get it right. Brady loved dancing with his Baby Girl, but he was genuinely terrified of dancing with her at the party.

All because it meant he had given his Princess away.

That dance means a lot. The only thing that could top that would be saying "I am giving her away." Could he even do that? When it comes down to that sentence, will he be able to say it? Brady always thought he would give her away when she was in her twenties or thirties, not her teens! At least it was to someone he knew and trusted, but was it really a good idea for them to get married so soon? Couldn't they have waited until she was as old as Butchy?

Mick's giggle brought Brady or of his thoughts and back to the beautiful girl in front of him. "Mick," Brady started. "I love you, Baby Girl."

"I love you too, Daddy."

Brady smiled as he thought of some of the best memories he had with her saying that same sentence. "Princess, do you remember the song I used to sing to you when you were llittle?"

"Not really." Mick replied with a shake of her head. "Can you sing it for me, Daddy?"

"I sure can." Brady smiled before singing.

/Song Time - Butterfly Kisses\

(Brady)

There's two things I know for sure: she was sent here from heaven and she's daddy's little girl. As I drop to my knees by her bed at night, she talks to Jesus and I close my eyes and I thank god for all of the joy in my life.

Oh, but most of all

For butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer; sticking little white flowers all up in her hair; "Walk beside the pony, Daddy, it's my first ride."

* * *

 _(Flashback)_

 _Five year old Mick giggled as her Daddy held her hand and walked next to her on the horse. "I love you, Daddy! Thank you for letting me ride the pony!"_

* * *

 _(A couple years later)_

 _Twelve year old Mick smiled shyly as she put a birthday cake in front of her Dad. "Do you like it, Daddy?"_

 _"Of course I do! Thank you." Brady replied, ruffling his daughter's hair._

* * *

"I know the cake looks funny, Daddy, but I sure tried."

Oh, with all that I've done wrong, I must have done something right to deserve a hug every morning and butterfly kisses at night.

* * *

Sweet 16 today, she's looking like her mama a little more everyday. One part woman, the other part girl. To perfume and make-up from ribbons and curls, trying her wings out in a great big world.

But I remember...

* * *

 _(Two years ago)_

 _"Daddy, thank you so much. You're so awesome. I love you!" Mick smiled as she and Brady danced to the music of Wet Side Story._

* * *

Butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer; sticking little white flowers all up in her hair. "You know how much I love you, Daddy, but, if you don't mind, I'm only gonna kiss you on the cheek this time."

Oh with all that I've done wrong, I must have done something right to deserve her love every morning and butterfly kisses at night.

All the precious time, like the wind, the years go by. Precious butterfly, spread your wings and fly.

She'll change her name today. She'll make a promise and I'll give her away. Standing in the bride-room just staring at her, she asked me what I'm thinking and I said "I'm not sure- I just feel like I'm losing my baby girl."

She leaned over, gave me butterfly kisses with her mama there. Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair, "Walk me down the aisle, Daddy- it's just about time."

* * *

 _(A couple days ago)_

 _Mick was trying on her almost-finished Lela-improved dress in front of her parents in their house. Turning to face her parents, Mick saw the tears in her Dad's eyes and gave him a tight hug. "Daddy, don't cry yet! Save those for the day you walk with me."_

* * *

"Does my wedding gown look pretty, Daddy? Daddy, don't cry"

Oh, with all that I've done wrong I must have done something right to deserve her love every morning and butterfly kisses.

I couldn't ask God for more, man this is what love is. I know I gotta let her go, but I'll always remember...

Every hug in the morning and butterfly kisses...

/Song End\

"Daddy." Mick said shakily as she hugged her Dad. Taking a shuddering breath, Mick let her tears flow down her cheeks. "Are you really that scared to let me go?"

"Of course I am. You're my Baby, Princess." Brady replied as he pulled Mick into his arms.

"I love you, Daddy." Mick murmered into Brady's shoulder.

"I love you too, my Butterfly."

* * *

I know that this chapter is mostly just cute, filler fluff, but I just feel like Mick didn't really get to hear how much she means to her parents. This was one of the songs my Dad and I used to dance to and it admittedly made me cry just writing this.

I miss you, Dad. I love you.

-Snaps


	3. Emotions Are Confusing

_**Guess who's back? Back again? I am back, tell your friends! This story is now officially back and I'm super excited for it!**_

 _ **In honor of my beautiful niece, Raya Lynn, who was born just a couple days ago!**_

 _ **Song (Only Chorus Used): My Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson.**_

 _ **New outfits have arrived on Polyvore for anybody who wants to check them out btw.**_

* * *

After dancing with my Dad for a bit longer, we sat down amd had some lunch while watching a recap of last night's football game. My Dad yelled at the tv for the most part while I laughed at him. Dad paused the recording and picked me up, hoisting me over his shoulder and running around the living room. He called out random football terms before putting me on the coffee table before shouting "TOUCHDOWN!" I giggled a bit before stepping down from the table and giving my Dad a hug.

"Thank you Dad. I've really missed this." I claimed, breathing in the scent of his cologne.

Dad held me tightly before kissing my forehead. "You know I'll always be here for you. You're my baby girl. You deserve a break for everything every once in a while. How about we go on one of our Daddy-Daughter dates like we did when you were little? Take your mind off of things for a bit longer."

I smiled, pulling out of the hug a little. "I would love to. I'll go get ready."

"Take your time, Princess." Dad stated, tousling my hair a bit.

I grinned before taking off for my room. I quicly threw on some clothes and my sandals, grabbed my purse, tied my hair back and ran back downstairs. "Ready!"

Dad rolled his eyes a bit. "I thought I told you not to rush?"

"You did, but I'm too excited! Let's go, Dad!" I exclaimed, pulling my Dad's wrist toward the door. I didn't actually pull much, but Dad let me win and walked over to the door. I ran outside and jumped in the Jeep, waiting as Dad locked the front door.

Dad climbed in the driver's seat and started the car. I smiled at him and we took off down the road with no real destination in mind.

* * *

Butchy ran a hand through his hair as he walked to Big Momma's. He hadn't seen Mick since yesterday and he was more than just a little bit worried about her. The last he knew, Mick had gone home to be with her parents, but she always returned the next morning to start the three day cycle all over again. Was Mack right in assuming that he had done something to upset her? Was she ignoring him because of it?

Butchy sighed, he was probably over thinking things and just making himself paranoid. Mick was safe at home and she was probably just hanging out with Brady or that cousin of hers, Hudson.

Butchy walked inside the restaurant and grabbed a soda from Big Momma. _'I needs to relax.'_ Butchy thought to himself, _'I'm being overprotective and way too paranoid. I don' need to breathe down her neck every second of every day.'_

As Butchy sat down in his usual booth, Juliet sat across from him. "I knew you'd keep your promise!" Juliet exclaimed with a beaming smile.

"Promise?" Butchy questioned, glancing at the blonde.

"You said yesterday that you come here every day. So, I came here this morning and waited to make sure you weren't lying to me." Juliet claimed like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Butchy nervously inched as far back as the seat would allow before responding. "You dids, huh? That's, uh, very interesting."

Juliet nodded with a giggle. "Yeah, well, anyway, what are you doing later?" Juliet twirled her hair around her fingers as she watched Butchy's response.

"I'm probably just gonna go home and, um, wait for my fiancé to come back. Why do you ask?" Butchy asked, watching the blonde's reaction to the news.

Juliet bit the inside of her cheek to refrain from making herself look like a fool in front of her new crush. The blonde smiled innocently at Butchy before giggling a bit. "I was just wondering if you'd mind showing me around, is all. I'm still new here and I don't exactly where to go or what to do around here."

 _'Oh,'_ Butchy thought to himself, _'she really is just a lost girl who wants to make new friends. I guess there's no harm in helpin her.'_ "Alright, Juliet. I'll show youse around a bit, but, after that, I's really shoulds get home and make sure my girl's okay."

"That's no problem, Butchy! Just as long as I know where the best hang outs are." Juliet stood and walked very close to Butchy's side as they left the restaurant.

* * *

Tanner watched from the window as his old rival and the new girl headed toward Butchy's bike. "Something doesn't seem right, Lela."

"I know what you mean, Tanner." Lela replied as she and Tanner spied on Butchy and Juliet. "If this has anything to do with what Mick was telling us, I don't think it's going to end very well..."

Tanner sighed. "What do we do about it? It's not like we can go talk to Mack and Brady and have them fix it all. Mack took that contraption with her after last night."

Lela nodded, "You're right."

The duo sat in silence for a moment as they thought before they gasped in unison. "The necklace!"

"I'll go home and get it." Lela said calmly.

"That's a good idea, Lela. Why don't we meet here in front of Big Momma's and we can head out before the big shindig tonight." Tanner claimed, nodding as the plan seemingly fell together on it's own.

Lela agreed with a nod before taking Tanner's hand and running outside toward her house. "Mack and Brady can help us. They have a whole bunch of experience with these things."

"Yeah!" exclaimed Tanner as they ran around a group of surfers. "They have to know what all of this means!"

Lela giggled, "Then they can tell us how to fix it!"

* * *

Mick sighed as she pulled her earbuds from her ears and stopped the music that blared from them. When had her life suddenly become such a giant recreation of that teen drama show she hated as a kid? Mick glanced around at the empty beach she sat on before singing the words to the chorus of the song she had been previously listening to.

"'Cause we belong together now, yeah. Forever united here somehow, yeah. You got a piece of me, and honestly, my life would suck without you."

"Maybe I was stupid for telling you goodbye." A voice continued from behind Mick. "Maybe I was wrong for trying to pick a fight. I know that I've got issues, but you're pretty messed up way I found out I'm nothing without you."

Mick clapped for Hudson as he sat on the sand next to her and set his board on the sand next to him. "Hey, H."

"What's wrong, M?" Hudson asked, watching the waves roll in.

Mick shook her head. "I don't know what you mean."

"You've been crying." Hudson said calmly. "If not, you've probably been close to it."

"How can you tell?"

"We've know each other since birth, Mick." Hudson smiled, putting his arm over Mick's shoulder. "It's like I have this radar that goes off whenever you aren't feeling like the happy girl I know and love. Besides, Mick, I know you well enough to know when you've been crying, are about to cry, or just really want to punch something."

"Really?" Mick asked skeptically.

"Yeah. So what's going on? What's got you like this?" Hudson questioned. "What can I do as your best cousin in the world to make it all better?"

Mick sighed, Hudson couldn't do anything to help. He had no clue about her being engaged or about Wet Side Story. "It's just boy trouble, H. Not much you can help me with in that department."

Hudson took a deep breath. "Well, if it's anything like those imaginary boy-toys you had as a kid, I think I might be able to help."

Mick rolled her eyes and took a deep breath. "No, actually. There's this guy I've been dating for a while and I thought we were doing pretty well. Then this girl shows up and she tries holding his hand and flirting with him. She is exactly the opposite of me and I-I'm scared th-that he-e won't wan-nt t-t-to be with m-me after he rea-lizes th-that she's exa-actly what he wants!"

Hudson pulled Mick into his arms and let her cry on him. "Makana Kaya Birch, you listen here and you listen good. You are the best person I know and if this, obviously stupid, guy can't realize that, then there's something wrong with him. There is nothing wrong with you. You are as perfect as you can get here on earth and don't let this new girl, or anybody else for that matter, dull that sparkle."

Mick's arms tightened around Hudson as he rubbed circles on her back. "H-How are y-you so good at th-this?"

"Temporary insanity." Hudson claimed, "No, I'm just kidding. I guess I just know what you need to hear. If you can't hear it from Aunt Mack and Uncle Brady, I will always be here to shake up that brain of yours."

"Thanks, H." Mick smiled, wiping her face a bit.

Hudson helped clean Mick's tear stained cheeks before pressing a light kiss to her forehead. He knew she'd have a headache after that little episode. "That's what cousins are there for. Emotional breakdowns, beating up people you don't like, or even just sitting here and drying your tears."

"You're the best, Hudson." Mick smiled.

"I know." Hudson claimed confidently. "Love you, cous."

"Love you too, cous." Mick responded with a smirk. "I'm going to go talk to my boyfriend and see if we can work this out."

"Alright. If you need me to kick some butt, you know where to find me." Hudson smiled, ruffling Mick's hair as he stood.

Mick grabbed his hand and let him help her up. "I know, H, but I'm gonna try to solve this without conflict, okay?"

"Okay. But still, if you need me, call me." Hudson said seriously, grabbing his surfboard.

"Okay, H, I will." Mick nodded. "I'll see ya around, alright.

"Yep. Catch ya later." Hudson nodded before running into the ocean.

Mick lingered on the beach for a while before heading back home. No doubt her Mom would be back. Her Mom would understand what she needed to do. Besides, she still needed to ask her about Butchy and what he had told her.

 _'Ugh...'_ Mick sighed mentally, _'Why does life always seem complicated for me?_ '

* * *

As Butchy finished the tour with Juliet, they watched the waves for a bit as they asked each other different questions.

"So, where are you's from?" Butchy asked.

"Oh, I'm from Texas." Juliet replied, a big smile on her face. "My Daddy owns one of the biggest transportation companies in Dallas. He plans on opening a motorcycle plant here so he sent me to check it out."

Butchy's eyes widened a bit at this. "Sounds nice. Is he, uh, looking fer anyones to work at this new place?"

"He sure is!" Juliet exclaimed. "Daddy is always complaining that nobody can build him the one he wants. He wants somebody who can surprise him, I guess."

Butchy glanced to his bike, "Is there any ways you's can explain this bike to me?"

Juliet smirked, "Of course! It's this Harley Davidson model from this year. He wants it in red and white. Something about a pan, I think."

"A 1962 Panhead? I gots one o' those. I wants to rebuild it fer Mick as a weddin' gift." Butchy smiled, his eyes glazed over as he thought of his brown haired beauty.

"Really?" Juliet asked, "My Dad would have loved to have it. Or riden it. He is a motorcycle nut. He'd probably hire you on the spot if you rebuilt it for him."

Butchy thought over this info for a moment. "Y'know whats? I needs to rebuild it anyways. Why don't I's just let him take it fer a ride?"

Juliet gasped, a huge smile crossing her features. "You would really do that?! You are the best!"

"What 're friends fer?" Butchy stated, "Besides, it's not like he's going to keep it fer 'imself. One ride won't hurt."

* * *

"You said what?!" Lela exclaimed incredulously after her brother explained what had happened with Juliet. "I thought that the Panhead was Mick's dream motorcycle! Why on earth would you give it away?!"

Butchy sighed in frustration as he hung up his helmet and leather vest. "I'm not giving it aways, Sis. Juliet's Dad has always wanted one and, besides, she says he'd probably be okays with just ridin' it. I's saids nothin' about givin' away Mick's bike."

"I'm sorry, Butchy, but this just does not seem like the right thing to do. Especially not to Mick." Lela claimed, shaking her head. "Mick has been working herself to exhaustion every day for your wedding. She doesn't need the extra stress of you doing crazy things for a complete stranger! And a girl stranger at that!"

"Lela..." Butchy exhaled, "I knows Mick's puttin' up with a lot more 'an she should, but I's honestly don't thinks she'd mind me helpin' out somebody."

Lela's shoulders slumped a little before she forced them back up. "I guess we'll just have to find out for ourselves, huh?"

"What're you's talkin' 'bout?" Butchy asked as he opened the door to his room.

"Tanner and I are going to see Mack and Brady tonight before the shindig at Big Momma's." Lela replied with a confident smile. "Mick's still there with them. I plan on telling her, Mack and Brady everything that's been happening. And, once Tanner and I leave tonight, you can't follow us to stop me."

Lela raised her clenched fist from her dress pocket and let the pearl chain dangle down in front of her, the beads shimmering in the light of the living room. At the end of the beads, the small, Hawaiian flower danced back and forth as Lela displayed it to her older sibling.

Butchy's eyes widened a fraction as he stared at his sister. He was tempted to grab the necklace from her and run so he could stop Lela before she causes things for him and Mick to tear again, but he knew he wouldn't stand a chance. Lela was fast when she needed to be and it would be a losing battle. Even so, it wasn't like he was hiding anything from Mick, he was helping the new girl, it's not like he was cheating on her or something. He wouldn't do that to Mick, not in his wildest dreams.

Lela grabbed the handle of the front door before twisting it open and turning to face it. She gave one last glance over her shoulder to her brother before sighing...

"I'm sorry, Butchy, I really am."

* * *

 **B-L-O-O-P-E-R-S**

 **(Hahahaha! You guys probably thought I forgot to do these again, huh? XD Nope! I remembered!)**

 **As a backstage dare, Mick was told by Giggles to do the most random thing she could while they were still filming in Big Momma's.**

 **So, guess where we are now?**

 **Mick climbed up on the counter and turned on some music. As Drag Me Down by One Direction came on, Mick started bouncing around like a maniac and singing along as best as she could.**

 **As Mick spun around, her sock slipped, causing her to fall back on the counter.**

 **"This counter can drag me down!" Mick sang before sliding down off the island.**

 **"Okay, cut!" The director called. "Mick, you okay?"**

 **"A little dragged, but I'm fine!" Mick joked, laughing at her own dumb joke.**

* * *

 **As Juliet sat down across from Butchy at the table, Mick knelt on the seat behind Butchy, glaring daggers at the blonde.**

 **"I'm on to you, blondie." Mick mouthed at her.**

 **Juliet swallowed thickly before talking to Butchy. The camera switched to Butchy, but what made everybody start laughing was the look on Juliet's face as Mick dragged a finger across her throat before pointing it at Juliet.**

 **"I've got my eyes on you." Mick claimed before ducking back down so she couldn't be seen on camera.**

 **"Cut!" The director shouted. "Makana, what was that about?"**

 **Mick popped back up from the next booth over. She draped her arms over the back of the chair and over Butchy's shoulders. "Just reminding Juliet that Butchy belongs to me. Got it, Juliet?"**

 **The blonde nodded quickly. "Yes, Mick."**

 **"Great! Later, Babe!" Mick exclaimed before planting a kiss on Butchy's cheek and dashing off the set.**

* * *

 _ **I have a major plan for this story, so be on the alert. Updates will be more frequent and the plot shall be thicker than my favorite milkshake!**_

 _ **xoxo**_


	4. Being Jelly Is Not Fun

_**After the last chapter, I just had to continue by writing this. That, and my home WiFi was shut off on Monday when I originally planned on posting. I have to wait for my check to come in so I can pay for it, and it won't get in until Thursday night or Friday morning. I'm currently using my Aunt's wifi and it is working amazingly!**_

 _ **So, as a special gift, you guys get an extra long chapter! I'm also putting myself on a schedule for this story so that I don't just drift away from it... again. Mondays and Fridays, hopefully. Today being just a random posting day. I don't have work on weekends so I can write much more on those days.**_

 _ **No song this time, but outfits have been created on Polyvore.**_

 _ **Anyway, enjoy!**_

* * *

The wood of the living room floor seemed to be dented with the shape of Mick's shoes in the area she had been pacing. The brunette had been pacing for the past hour and a half and it hadn't been doing her nerves a bit of good. Mick had done everything except bite her nails down to the cuticles, however she wasn't about to do so. Besides, the polish she used tasted disgusting when she tried it as a kid, there was no way she was going to try that again.

Mick was about ready to go find her Mom herself when she heard the sliding door pull open. Mick dashed into the kitchen, nearly tripping over her own two feet as she turned the corner to face her Mom.

"Where have you been?!" Mick screeched impatiently. "I've been waiting for, like, almost two hours! What happened with Butchy? Tell me, Momma! Tell me, tell me, tell me! Please!"

Mack rolled her eyes at her daughter. "Slow your roll there, Road Runner. I think you might actually have beaten a record with that speed talking."

"Mooom!" Mick whined as she dragged herself over to her Mom. "Wait... Mom, what are those?" Mick asked, pointing to some grey bags that hung from her Mother's arms.

Mack followed her gaze to the bags and smiled. "Well, my dear, while you were here, freaking out over nothing, I went shopping with some close friends."

"Seriously?! But, Mom-!"

"Hiya, Mick!" Lela waved as she entered the house from behind Mack. Lela hugged Mick before skipping into the living room. Mick blinked in the direction Lela had exited before her attention was brought back to the door.

"Hey, Mick!" Tanner exclaimed with a laugh, chasing after Lela with some grey bags on his arms.

Mick glanced between the entryway to the living room and her Mom before letting out a very confused noise. "What? B-But- huh?!"

Mack laughed at her daughter's reaction before setting the bags down on the floor. "That was my reaction as well. I forgot that I had given Lela the necklace. They followed me back here and we decided to talk a bit about the situation at hand."

Mick's eyes widened a small bit. "Really?! Lela knows what's going on with Butchy?"

"Yeah. Y'know, it's not as bad as you think." Mack claimed, pulling an outfit and some high heels out from one of the bags. "Lela bought this for you at the mall. She says the color makes your eyes sparkle. Go try it on."

Mick took the clothes, staring at her Mom in confusion, "But, Momma, I thought-"

"We'll all sit down and talk about it after. But, for now, just go put that on and breathe. I can guarantee that it's all just in your head." Mack soothed, resting her hands on her daughter's shoulders with a gentle smile.

Mick sighed, yet nodded anyway. She knew better than to argue with her mother; not only did her Mom know what was going on with her fiancé, but she was also one of the few people that knew when she needed to back off and take a break.

As Mick headed over to the stairs, she called out to Lela, "Hey, Lela, would you mind helping me? I really don't want the zipper to get caught in my hair again."

"Oh! Of course, Mick! I'll be right there." Lela called from her spot next to Tanner.

 **/Mick's PoV\**

I thanked the black haired girl sitting on the living room floor before heading upstairs to my room. As I closed my bedroom door, I slid my back down the door until I sat on the floor. I had nothing to go on, but my Mom's promise that everything was going to be okay. For the time being, I had to trust what my Mom said and just let myself relax.

 _'I just have to chill and trust Mom.'_ I told myself. _'Might as well see what it is that Lela bought for me.'_

I set the mint colored shoes down on her bed and unfolded the dress. As the dress opened, a paper fell out. I set the dress on my bed with the shoes and picked up the paper. I sat on the edge of my bed and unfolded it. It was an envelope. On the front was a message in very girly handwriting.

 **"Mick, I found this in Butchy's room before Tanner and I left. Please don't tell him that I was snooping, but I just had to let you read this. It's something I would have never expected from him, but you do bring that out from him.**

 **Xoxo, Lela"**

I shook my head at my best friend's snooping shenanigans before opening the back of the envelope. Inside was a crinkly piece of paper that had been straightened as much as possible. Lela must have found it in a ball or something and decided to straighten it.

I opened the paper and tried reading my soon-to-be husband's handwriting. A couple times, he had drawn over some words; apparently he thought that what he had put wasn't good enough. He had even crossed out the top a couple of times when he didn't know what to put as the heading where my name would be. Whether it was "My Girl" or just "Mick", he still felt that he needed to change it.

The letter wasn't dated, but, by some of his wording, I could tell that Butchy attempted to write this soon after his proposal. Putting that aside, I read the letter Butchy had written for me... Even some of the stuff he crossed out that was still legible.

 **"My Gorgeous Queen,**

 **I know that I say it a lot when we're alone together and it might be annoying to you, but I really love you. I love every single thing about you. I love that way you laugh, even though you think it's weird. I adore the way you talk in your sleep, even when it ends in you shoving me or kicking me off the side of the bed. I love the way that you don't treat me like I'm just a Rodent, you treat me like a friend.**

 **I can't think of one thing I don't love about you. Even so, I find it so difficult telling you all the things I love about you when we're together. Even though you actually said yes to my proposal, I can't help but be a complete nervous wreck. You kill all my confidence when I see those stunning eyes of yours.**

 **I feel really odd attempting to write this for you. Maybe it's the fact that I'm new to feeling love like this or maybe it's because I still feel that I have to impress you. I know that you don't see it that way, but I just can't stop. I love you so much that just being away from you hurts. I don't know if you feel the exact same thing, but maybe that's why I feel like I have to get you things. Actually, if I could give you one thing in life, I would give you the ability to see yourself through my eyes because only then will you realize how much you mean to me.**

 **Every time I say 'I love you', I really mean much more than those three little words. I'm trying to say that you mean more to me than anyone else in the world. I'm trying to tell you that.I adore you and cherish every moment we spend together. I'm trying too explain that I want you and I need you and that I get lost in wonderful thoughts eveytime I think of you. Eveytime I say 'I love you', I'm trying to remind you that you're the best thing that has ever happened to me."**

 **I truly do love you, Mick. I always will. I promise.**

 **Love, Butchy."**

I smiled at the piece of paper in my hands before I pulled it to my chest. My smile dropped as I thought over everything. Now I felt stupid. I ran away from him. I left him without saying anything and he probably doesn't even know why!

My thoughts were interrupted by Lela opening the door to my room. She closed it before speaking, "I knew you would find it! Well, what do you think? I think it's super sweet and Butchy would probably blow all his gaskets if he knew I read it, let alone let you read it!"

"Lela, I have to know what's going on. I have to know if I just caused Butchy and I a whole bunch of trouble." I stated, gripping the paper tightly.

"Sorry, Mick, I can't tell you yet. Mack told me to swear in CheeChee's hair. You know I can't break that kind of promise." Lela apologized before picking up the dress next to me and pulling me to stand next to her. Lela yanked me over to my mirror and stood behind me, holding the dress over my clothes. "See, I knew this would make your eyes sparkle!"

"I chatted with Lela for a bit while I was getting changed, but my mind was mostly on Butchy and his letter. I exhaled deeply in a sigh as I wandered over to Lela's spot at my vanity. "Lela, I-"

"Oh my gosh!" Lela squealed, running up to me excitedly. "Mick! You look _so_ pretty in that! I mean, yeah, you always do look pretty, but this dress is exactly how I hoped it would be! It makes your eyes go from root beer brown to this lavender purple color and it is so pretty! And- wait a minute, I cut you off, didn't I? So, Mick, what were you going to say?"

I giggled a little at Lela's ramble before speaking again, "It's nothing, Lela, I was just wondering if you would mind helping me find some accessories that would match my dress?"

Lela perked up again before she nodded in excitement. "Of course! Let me zip you up first and then I'll go pick out some stuff from your collection."

I nodded before turning, swinging my hair over my shoulder. Lela pulled the sides of my dress together before she started pulling the zipper. I took a deep breath before talking, "Lela, d-do you... Do you think I made the biggest mistake of my life?"

"What do you mean, Mick? I think you would look perfectly fine with some accessories." Lela claimed, stopping the zipper in the middle of my back as she listened for my answer.

I sighed, "Leaving Butchy like that. I shouldn't have ignored the problem and left; I should have stayed and talked with Butchy." I claimed, tugging my hair anxiously. "I should have talked it out, let him explain, and stopped being so stubborn and stupid! Why on earth was my first instinct top run?! If I just sat down and talked it out with him, I could be back home with Butchy, cuddling on the couch by now! If I hadn't been so stubborn, none of this would've happened! If I had-"

"Mick." Lela stated in a very firm, non-Lela way. She zipped up the rest of my dress before turning me around and holding my upper arms. "It wasn't you. It was the jelly. You had that jelly thing in you and it made you act in a way that you usually wouldn't."

I stared at Lela in complete confusion, "Jelly thing? What jelly thing?"

Lela waved her hand in a circle as she tried to find the right words to explain it, hoping I would catch on while she thought. "That thing you have in this world when somebody has something that you really want."

"Jealousy?" I asked, hoping that was the correct word.

"Yeah! That!" Lela exclaimed, "You were jealous of the new girl, Juliet! She had Butchy with her and you wanted that too. So you did the only thing that came to mind. You came to get advice from your Mom and Dad. Apparently that's a normal thing here."

I thought over Lela's words. Had I really been that bad? "Yeah... I guess you're right, Lela. I guess, when I saw that Juliet girl trying to hold hands with Butchy, I saw red. I should have just gone over and told her to back off."

"Mick," Lela sighed, "stop thinking about what you should've done and focus on what you should do. First, you should let me go find you some fancy jewelry." Lela and I giggled a bit before she got serious again. "Second, you should go listen to your Mom, she knows what's best for you. Then, you should go apologize to Butchy and talk everything over with him. Trust me, Mick, everything will be okay."

I nodded, sucking in a deep breath. "You're right, Lela. I'll focus on what's going on right now. Why don't I help you find some jewelry and then we can go talk to my Mom?"

Lela nodded with a smile. "Sounds like a great plan to me."

* * *

Lela had picked out the right accessories fairly quickly, grabbing some bangles, a necklace, a hair band and some earrings that all matched the dress in their own ways. After that, she briskly dragged me downstairs and into the living room so I would stop bugging her every two minutes. Every time I asked her if she was done, Lela would roll her eyes at me and go even slower. Eventually, Lela got sick of my constant asking and decided to just drag me downstairs so I'd stop asking. She pushed me backwards onto the couch before turning to my Mom.

"Please tell her already!" Lela pleaded, "She's far more determined than I thought. It was a constant stream of 'Is this what happened?' and 'Was it this?'. Please, Mack, Brady, fix her!"

Dad gave me a look before he spoke. "How much did she tell you?"

"Only that I was bring ridiculous and that I should chill." I sighed, crossing my arms. That was the nicest way of saying that Lela basically told me to shut up before she got out some duct tape and forced me to shut up.

"Good." Mom claimed with a confident smirk. "Well, maybe we should tell you before you attack us with questions."

I nodded, "Yeah, that's probably your best bet. So, what happened?"

"Why don't I start from the beginning..." Mom stated.

* * *

Mack had only just gotten home when she heard voices calling from the back gate. Deciding to inspect the voices, Mack locked the shed door before going over to the gate and opening it. Mack stared in confusion at Lela and Tanner as they walked in. "Okay, I've only been gone for a couple minutes, what happened?"

"Lela and I need your help." Tanner claimed, turning to Mack. "We don't know what to do."

"Butchy and Mick are drifting apart and we need to fix it." Lela added.

Mack nodded, she had just talked with Butchy, but he still seemed okay. "Okay, but, when I last talked to Butchy, he seemed fine. Mick is alright as well."

"Has she told you about Juliet?" Tanner asked, tilting his head a small bit.

"Juliet? No. She has told me about this new girl though. She's apparently attempting to steal Butchy from Mick?" Mack asked back.

Lela giggled. "Mack, Juliet is the new girl! She's the daughter of this big, motorcycle company owner from Texas. She told Butchy that he could probably get a nice job at this place when they open a new place in our world."

"Wait, so this Juliet girl is some hot-shot's daughter?" Mack asked, watching the couple as they nodded. "Okay, you know what? Let's talk about this on the road. I need to get some shopping done before the mall closes and we can't let Mick see us. Let's talk this over in the car."

The trio got in the Jeep out front as Lela started telling Mack some more. "So, Butchy really wants to get this job because, if he does, then he can pay for the honeymoon thing that Mick had mentioned."

"And, let me guess, he thinks that, if he impresses this guy or his daughter, he'll get a big job that pays really well?" Mack questioned, starting the car and taking off.

Lela tilted her head a little. "Mack, are you a mind reader or something?"

Mack shook her head a little. "No. Brady tried that same thing. He tried to get this big job out in Maine so he could getthings for Mick before she was born. I was lucky enough to convince him not to because my Grandpa wanted to give him the surf shop. At the time, we weren't sure if Mick was going to be a girl or a boy, but Brady wanted to cover every single detail of my pregnancy and Mick's life after she was born."

Lela sighed happily, "Aww. That sounds so sweet. But, Mick isn't pregnant. So what's so important about this honeymoon thing? Why does Butchy want to pay for it so badly?"

"That's a story for another time, Lela." Mick stated slowly as she turned onto the road where the mall was located. "Besides, Butchy is a very loving fiancé. He probably just wants to buy everything that Mick says she wants."

"That's true." Tanner piped up from the back seat. "He once said that 'If it makes my girl happy, it makes me happy.'"

"So, this Juliet girl has to be dangling some pretty big cash in front of him in order for Butchy to be acting like this." Mack stated as she pulled in to the mall parking lot.

"She has to be." Lela nodded, thinking over everything her older brother had told her. "He said that Juliet told him that her father really liked this motorcycle, a '62 Panhead in red and white, I think. So far, nobody has been able to do it just right, so Butchy wants to fix it up in the hopes that he'll get the job."

"Isn't the Panhead the same bike that Mick said she wanted?" Tanner asked as he climbed out of the Jeep. "Why would he give that away?"

Lela shook her head a bit. "He isn't. Butchy says that a ride won't hurt and that he already needed to fix it up. I still don't get why he would say that, though."

Mack grabbed her purse from under her seat before walking around the back of the car. "The better Butchy makes himself look, the better chances he has of getting that job."

* * *

I stared at the floor. It was my fault after all. "So, this whole thing with Juliet is because I opened my mouth and told Butchy that I thought a honeymoon on an island would be cool?"

Mom came over to me and knelt down in front of me, "Mick, that-"

"I did this." I mumbled quietly, "If I had just stayed quiet about everything, Butchy wouldn't be trying get the job with Juliet's Dad. I have to go. I have to go apologize to Butchy and tell him that he doesn't need to do any of this. I have to get to him before it's too late."

"Mick, you should at least wait until morning." Mom stated, rubbing circles on the backs of my hands.

Dad nodded in agreement, putting his hand on my back. "Sweetheart, your Mom is right, it's almost dinner time."

"But it's still light out. Our night is their day. If I go now, I can sneak in and talk to Butchy without the rest of the Rodents listening in." I insisted. "Please. Wouldn't you do the same for each other?"

Mom and Dad glanced at each other and sighed. "She's right, Mack. I mean, I'd go into a different world for you."

Mom nodded. "And I would for you." They turned to me and wrapped me in a hug. "Go make things right, Mick. You don't want to leave things tense for too long."

"Get back here soon, young lady." Dad stated as firmly as he could while he squeezed me in a bear hug.

"I will, Daddy. I love you both." I smirked, pulling them close.

"And we love you." Mom and Dad replied in unison.

"Go get your man back." Dad grinned, pulling me to my feet.

"And get your smile back." Mom stated. "We will see you in three days."

"Three days." I nodded before taking Lela and Tanner's hands and heading outside to the shed. I unlocked the door with my key necklace before waving goodbye to my family and heading back to Wet Side Story.

* * *

As we landed in the garage, I slid open the front hatch and waited for Lela and Tanner to climb out before I headed inside. I heard Lela say a quick goodbye to Tanner as I headed toward Butchy's room. Lela ran up behind me, grabbing my wrist as I reached for the door. "Mick, wait." I stopped and turned toward Lela. "Don't go inside yet, just look in.

I nodded and slid the door open slowly, stopping before it creaked. Butchy was fast asleep. "Lela, what-?"

"He told me not to tell you, but I just can't keep it a secret." Lela sighed, shaking her head. "Butchy hasn't been able to sleep the past couple nights. He refuses to even take a nap because it has been so bad."

"Why would that be a secret?" I whispered, peeking in Butchy's room.

Lela leaned next to me to look at her brother. "Do you remember that night when you woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and he went crazy?"

"Yeah." I nodded, not getting what this was leading up to. "He checked everywhere in the house except for the bathroom. What does that have to do with this?'

"He can't sleep without you next to him" Lela claimed softly, " Haven't you noticed that every single time you leave at the end of your three days that he begs and pleads for you to let him tag along?"

I thought over this information and suddenly it clicked. The cuddling, the tight hold he has on me when we sleep, the way he listens to my heartbeat when he thinks I'm still sleeping, the protectiveness. Everything fell together. I smiled before turning to Lela. "I'm gonna go lay down next to him and see in he does what I think he will. Thank you so much, Lela."

"Of course, Mick. Go get him." Lela smiled, giving me a hug, "Goodnight."

"'Night. See you in the morning." I whispered before sliding through the small crack in the doorway.

I quietly closed the door before sneaking over to the closet. I slipped my dress onto one of the hangers before taking one of the shirts Butchy wore when he was repairing a motorcycle. I made my way quietly over the carpet toward Butchy's sleeping form. I pulled back the blankets and watched as he rolled onto his side, his hands grabbing at the area where I usually slept. Butchy mumbled my name before telling me to come back. I smiled as I crawled up to his arm. I sat down next to his arm, pulling the covers over my legs before leaning back. I put my head on his bicep and slowly put my hand on his chest before closing my eyes and lightly kicking Butchy's calf.

I listened to Butchy as he slowly woke up. I felt his hand on my face before it laced into my hair softly."Mick?" Butchy whispered. "Mick, you came back." I made a little noise like I usually do when I'm faking sleep. I felt the bed slowly shift as he leaned over me, letting my hand drop from his chest as he puthis ear on my chest as lightly as he could. I heard him exhale like he had been holding his breath. I opened my eyes to see that he was facing away from me, his hair tickling my chest and neck. I reached up and put my hand on his hair, ruffling it lightly as his head flew up off my chest. "Babe!" Butchy practically shouted.

I watched as Butchy's face brightened, "Butchy, I love you. I really, truly do."

"I love you's too, Mick." Butchy smiled, leaning down to place a gentle kiss on my lips.

"Butchy, I really do mean it. I wish I could show you how much I actually love you."

"I know you do, Beautiful. I wish I could show you how much I love you too." Butchy said, staring blearily into my eyes.

"Butchy, every time I say 'I love you', I really mean much more than those three little words. I'm trying to say that you mean more to me than anyone else in the world. I'm trying to tell you that.I adore you and cherish every moment we spend together. I'm trying too explain that I want you and I need you and that I get lost in wonderful thoughts eveytime I think of you. Eveytime I say 'I love you', I'm trying to remind you that you're the best thing that has ever happened to me."

Butchy's eyes widened in surprise as I recited a section of his letter, word for word. "Mick, when did you-? How did you find that?"

I wasn't about to tell him that Lela had given it to me, so I quickly came up with an answer. "It was on the floor when I was searching for your vest the other day. I absolutely love it." I paused, "I... I'm sorry I left without telling you. I know how much stress it probably put you under. I just... I got scared when I saw you talking with Juliet at Big Momma's. I know that you'd never do anything to hurt me in any way, but I got so jealous and scared and I just panicked. I'm so sorry, Butchy."

I avoided Butchy's gaze as he moved to cup my cheeks. "Mick..." Butchy sighed as he looked down a bit, his tone soft, yet oddly serious, "You're right, I would never do anything to hurt you, but I really wish you would've just come over and talked to me. You really scared me. I didn't know what I did wrong, but I had no way of getting to you to ask you. You and Mack took the machine home, the Destiny Board is at your house, and my sister left before I could get the necklace from her. I felt so... so lost. I just-" Butchy stopped as I inhaled sharply.

I felt the hot liquid flowing down my cheeks as I tried to regain whatever composure I could. "I-I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry! I didn'- I didn't think any-y of th-his would happen!" I hiccupped, attempting to dry my cheeks before any more tears could fall. Butchy quickly pulled me to his chest as he moved us around, leaning my head over his heart as he laid back down. I wrapped my arms around his waist, my legs on either side of him. I thought I had cried everything out earlier, but I guess I was wrong.

Butchy put his hand on my head like I had done to him before he whispered softly in my ear. "I know you didn't mean for this to happen. It's okay."

"No, it's not!" I insisted, "Look at what I've done to you! I've done so much crap in just a matter of days. How on earth are you not pushing me away?"

Butchy grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back so he could look me in the eyes. "You're right; you have caused a lot of stuff. However, yer only looking at the negatives. You caused me to see that I need you around. You caused me to remember that, even with those tears on your cheeks, you are the most beautiful person in my entire life. For every bad thing you see, there are two good things that I see. And, as for the reasons why I am here, holding of leaving; I only have one."

"What's the reason?" I asked as Butchy wiped some stray tears from my cheeks.

Butchy smiled, planting a kiss on my nose. "There is only one you. The only place I want to be is right here, holding you. I'm always here for you. And, besides, you woke me up in the middle of the night and all I really wanna do is hold you."

I smiled, leaning my cheek into Butchy's palm before leaning down and kissing him. "I love you, My Handsome King."

Butchy smiled, pulling my head back down to his chest, "And I love you, My Gorgeous Queen."


	5. Loathe At First Sight

_**Hey, guys. The scheduled days for posting, as I said in the last chapter, is Mondays and Fridays, but I'm not so sure anymore. My Mom is helping me with my shift at work so I can write from 6 AM until noon and from 2 PM to 9 PM. It might be just a randomly updated thing, but I don't know anymore.**_

 _ **I have made some of the outfits for this chapter, however there are still some that have yet to be posted because of the lack of Wi-Fi connection as of this posted time.**_

 _ **I'm also considering making either an Instagram or Twitter account for Mick. What do you guys think? If I do, I'll post an outfit on Polyvore revolving around the symbol for the app I choose. Probably gonna be crazy looking, though.**_

 _ **Anyway, TO NARNIA! (Or to the story at least.)**_

* * *

The next morning, Butchy and I started talking a bit about everything again as we rested in bed. "I still can't believe that I let something so small bother me." I claimed as I played with Butchy's hair.

Butchy smiled a little. "It reminds me of that time we were at that shop in the mall and I thought that the guys workin' there we're trying to flirt with you."

I giggled with a nod. "I'm pretty sure if Dylynne hadn't said anything, you would have run poor Marcus into the ground."

"He's lucky she was there. I came very close to sendin' him out the window." Butchy stated, pushing himself up on his elbows. "I do wish you would've told me that he wasn't into girls before we started talking with him."

"Yeah." I smiled as I stared up at Butchy. "You know what?"

Butchy tilted his head a bit, "No, what?"

I reached up and put my hand on Butchy's check. "I got lucky."

"With what, babe?" Butchy questioned, kissing the palm of my hand.

"With you." I said softly with a tiny smile. "Most guys that I know would be so huffy about the fact that I got so worked up over the fact that I got so jealous and that I messed up so badly. You, Butchy, are the absolute best person I could have ever asked to spend the rest of my life with." I stared into the deep brown eyes of my soon-to-be husband. "Thank you."

"I see it differently." Butchy started, lacing his fingers in mine. "I'm the lucky one. You've helped me change myself for the better and, at the same time, you've given me so much more to live for. Besides, you came back. That's all I really wanted during the time you had been gone, Mick. I only wanted you to be here in my arms."

"I'm sorry I scared you so badly. I didn't mean for it to happen." I apologized for the fiftieth time since my return.

"I know." Butchy soothed, "It doesn't matter anymore. Why don't we get your mind off of this and get some breakfast."

My stomach growled in it's own form of agreement. "Sounds amazing. However, I really want to just stay here and listen to you talk without your accent for longer."

Butchy's face flushed a bright, almost fire truck, red as he sat up, pulling me with him. "Yeah, well, you are the only person to ever hear it like this. I'd rather keep it this way."

"I love it. I love everything about you." I smiled, kissing his bright red cheek, "Anyway, why don't we go get ready before Lela drags us out in our pajamas." I claimed as I slid out from under the blankets.

"Mick," Butchy started as I stood, "are you wearing my Superman shirt? Did you go through my closet again?"

I looked down before smiling, "Yep. I didn't feel like wearing any of your other shirts last night so I grabbed this one. What do you think?"

"I'm thinking that I really did get lucky. Only you could ever steal my clothes and make them look absolutely gorgeous." Butchy smiled as he made his way over to me.

"Alright, Lover Boy." I teased, "Let's go eat before you have to meet with that guy from The Sparx that you refuse to tell me the name of."

Butchy stared at me with an impressed grin, "You remembered that?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's not everyday that another biker gang leader wants to meet up with you." I shrugged, "Besides, you never know, it could just be that he wants to apologize for the last race between Lugnut and that Cracker guy."

"Firecracker?" Butchy offered.

"Yeah, him." I nodded. "I really want to go with you. After the way his jerk of a racer messed with Lugnut's bike, I feel like anything could happen. Like there's something that's just not right about all this."

Butchy rested his hands on my hips as he put his forehead on mine. "It's just your nerves. It's not like he's challenging me to a race again, so just breathe, okay? I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

"Actually, according to the clock, it's almost ten. You need to get going if you want to make the meeting by eleven." I corrected smartly before heading over to my side of the closet. I grabbed some clothes before heading to the bathroom to change.

"Crap!" I heard Butchy exclaim as he grabbed some clothes and started getting ready. I giggled, yep, some things never change.

* * *

I was heading out the front door after breakfast when I heard a motorcycle rev as it pulled up next to me. I turned to see Miles pulling off his helmet as he spoke to me. "Hey, Mick. How's it goin'?"

"Alright I guess." I sighed, "Butchy went to see that man from the Sparx group. I'm worried about him."

"Xander? What's Butchy doin's with 'im?" Miles asked.

So Xander was his name. "Not sure." I answered with a shrug, "All I know is that this Xander guy wanted Butchy to go over so they could talk. Butchy says it's not a big deal, but I feel like something's not right."

Miles nodded, "I's get what'cha means. Xander's whole crew's shady. I's wouldn't trust 'im after the incident with Lugnut. I don't trust any of 'em as far as I can throw 'em."

"Yeah, I know what you mean... So, what are you up to today, Miles?" I asked, switching the subject before I could freak myself into chasing after Butchy.

"Offerin' the Rodents' beautiful First Lady a ride to Big Momma's, buts, after that, no clue." Miles smiled, gesturing to the seat behind him before offering me a hand.

"Ever the flirt, huh?" I teased, taking the offered appendage and climbing on the back of the bike.

Miles laughed, pushing his helmet on my head, "You's know's me too well, Mick! Just don't tell Butchy. Hold on!"

I wouldn't tell Butchy. Miles kney that I wouldn't. Butchy would tear him limb from limb if I told him Miles was flirting with me again. I held onto Miles' shoulders as he took off at an unnecessary speed down the road. My hair whipped in the wind as we quickly surpassed the legal speed limit. I laughed, this was actually a very effective way to get me distracted.

* * *

 **/Butchy's PoV\**

I got off my bike as I stared at the building The Sparx were staying in. It was about the same size of my house, if not, a little bigger. The walls appeared to be made of glass, but very dark glass. I shook my head a little, focusing on the task at hand. Xander said he'd be waiting inside, but it's Xander, you never know what could happen.

I opened the door and stepped inside. I was surprised to see that it looked more like a show room than a house. Cars lined the walls, motorcycles were parked in random locations throughout the main room, some kid sized bicycles were littered around the room.

"Butchy." I heard a voice call from the opposite side of the room. I looked up to see Xander walking toward me with a bottle of something in his hand. "Excuse the mess, man. My sister's kids are stayin' over and they're energy packed little buggers."

"No problem." I said shortly, "My sister's friend has some kids she watches and they 're the same ways."

"So, how ya been?" Xander asked as he reached his open hand out to me.

I shook his hand a bit before shrugging. "Rough couple days, but I'm gonna be fine. And you's?"

"Hectic with those four around." Xander chuckled as we started walking toward the room he came from. "So, about the reason for me bringin' ya here; somethin' you should know first, is that it's no life or death situation."

"'At's goods. Well, what is it then?" I asked.

"Well, ya see, I met this girl about a week ago. She had seen this old Harley Davidson emblem in the yard. Small piece, I was gonna put it on my niece's new bicycle since she learned how to ride." Xander explained as he opened the door and entered the next room.

"A'right." I nodded, yet I didn' quite understand where this was all goin'.

Xander smirked, "Anyways, this girl tells me she wants somethin' like it to make a new chain for her boyfriend's motorcycle. I tell her that it was for my niece, but I can always get another one. She gets all happy and starts jumpin' around. I tell her to keep it and that she don't need to pay. She thanked me and then she took off."

"I follow ye so far. So, what's does this have's to do with me?" I asked as Xander sat at a desk in the middle of the room.

"About a day or two later, I see you's drivin' around on your bike with the same exact Harley emblem danglin' from yer handlebars." Xander clarified, glaring at me from across the table.

 _'No.'_ I thought. _'Mick wouldn't have done that, would she? I mean, it's just a small thing; I could've bought that myself at the store downtown! But Mick is always thinking of others... she probably wanted to get that for me because I get so much for her...'_

"What did this girl look like?" I asked. I had to be completely sure it was Mick before I jump to conclusions.

"Brown hair, beautiful caramel eyes, bright white smile." Xander described, smiling, "Oh, yeahs, she had this ring on her right hand with a little, black and silver flower on the top. It doesnt matter though. Boy, was she a fox!"

"Don't talk about her like that." I growled.

"What, Butch? I'm speakin' the truth, aren't I? She was really good lookin', ya know. Her name's 'Mick', right? Pretty name. It really suits her-"

"You's better shut yer trap before I's do it for ya!" I hollered, glaring as hard as I could at my rival. "How do you's even know her name? Huh?! Tell me that!"

"Y'see, Butchy, I have a lot of faithful gang members who would never go against me. I have some very talented peoples who know how to get exactly what I want. I could send any one of them down to Big Momma's and you would never know the difference. Besides, she left you, didn't she? Ya know that I always get what I want, Butchy and she is exactly what I want."

"You's have no business talkin' about her that way." I snapped. "She came back. She is and always will be mine, that's all that matters."

"Really? She is, huh?" Xander questioned with a confident look. "Ya wanna test that little theory of yours?"

"How so?" I asked, slightly intrigued.

Xander smiled, "A race. Winner gets the pretty girl."

"She's worth much more than a race, Xander." I stated, shaking my head.

"Fine. A no strings attached race. All tricks are welcome, but the prize remains the same." Xander shrugged in a relaxed way. "Has Mick ever watched ya race? Has she ever seen ya win? Has she ever been there for the victory kiss? I bet ya know that yer not gonna win, that's why ya aren't agreeing, isn't i-"

"I'll do it. I'll race you's. However, I will win. Mick gives me all the strength that I need to win." I replied heading for the door.

"Two weeks, Saturday at Valley Pier. Three o'clock." Xander stated simply as I opened the door.

"I'll be there." I claimed, slamming the door on my way out. I hurried out to my bike before heading to Big Momma's.

After I had calmed down a bit more, I realized what I had just done. I just used Mick as a betting chip. I could lose her to Xander because of my own stupidity. I have to warn her; I have to tell her what I just caused. And, on top of that, there could be somebody there trying to take her. Xander can't have her. He won't.

* * *

 **/Mick's PoV\**

After my ride with Miles, I headed over to Big Momma to get a root beer. I heard the door open, but I paid no attention to it until I heard the person's heels click up behind me. "Hi! I haven't met you yet, have I?"

I turned to the person and realized it was Juliet, the blonde I had seen Butchy with the day I had left. I put on the most plastic smile I could before speaking. "Oh, you must be the new girl, Juliet. I'm Mick, Butchy's fiancée. It's so nice to meet you, Juliet."

I noticed Juliet's smile fade as my smile got brighter. "So you're the mysterious Mick. You're shorter than I expected. That must be an inconvenience with Butchy being so tall."

I swear I felt my eye twitch as I stared at the bleach blonde girl in front of me. "Actually, Butchy really likes me being this height. He says that it makes me who I am and he likes me this way. Anyway, I have to get going, but good luck trying to chat up my husband." I turned and grabbed by drink from Big Momma, thanking her before turning to go sit with Lela, Cheech and Struts.

"But you aren't married yet. Anything could happen!" Juliet claimed a bit louder than necessary as I walked away.

"Good luck with that." I smiled with a wave and the fakest smile I could muster.

As I sat down with the girls, Struts spoke up, "What was that about?"

"I just met her and she's already too annoying to handle." I sighed, sipping my soda. "There's this feeling in me that I just can't describe..."

Suddenly, music started playing.

 **[Juliet:]**

Dearest, darlingest, Popsicle...

 **[Mick:]**

My dear Mother and Father...

 **[Both:]**

There's been some confusion Over things here at Big M's.

 **[Mick:]**

But, of course, it's not about Butchy.

 **[Juliet:]**

But, of course, I'll rise above it.

 **[Both:]**

For I know that's how you'd want me to respond.  
Yes, there's been some confusion For you see, this new girl is...

 **[Juliet:]**

Unusually and exceedingly peculiar And altogether quite impossible to describe...

 **[Mick:]**

Blonde.

 **[Juliet:]**

What is this feeling,  
So sudden and new?

 **[Mick:]**

I felt the moment I laid eyes on you.

 **[Juliet:]**

My pulse is rushing,

 **[Mick:]**

My head is reeling,

 **[Juliet:]**

My face is flushing.

 **[Both:]**

What is this feeling?  
Fervid as a flame, does it have a name?  
Yes!  
Loathing.  
Unadulterated loathing.

 **[Juliet:]**

For your face,

 **[Mick:]**

Your voice,

 **[Juliet:]**

Your clothing.

 **[Both:]**

Let's just say - I loathe it all!  
Every little trait however small Makes my very flesh begin to crawl With simple utter loathing.  
There's a strange exhilaration In such total detestation It's so pure, so strong.  
Though I do admit it came on fast,  
Still I do believe that it can last.  
And I will be loathing, loathing you My whole life long!

 **[Lela, CheeChee and Struts:]**

Poor Mick forced to put up with with someone so mean-i-fied.  
We just want to tell you,  
We're all on your side!  
We share your...

 **[Mick and Juliet:]**

Loathing,  
Unadulterated loathing for her face, her voice, her clothing.  
Let's just say,  
We loathe it all!

Every little trait,  
However small,

Makes our very flesh Begin to crawl...

What is this feeling So sudden and new?  
I felt the moment I laid eyes on you!  
My pulse is rushing,  
My head is reeling.

Oh, what is this feeling?

Does it have a name?

Yes...

 **[All:]**

Ahhhhhh...  
Loathing!

 **[Mick and Juliet (Other Girls):]**

There's a strange exhilaration (loathing)  
In such total detestation (loathing)  
It's so pure, so strong! (so strong)

Though I do admit it came on fast Still I can believe it can last And I will be loathing (loathing...)  
For forever loathing (loathing...)  
Truly deeply Loathing you (loathing you!...)  
My whole life long!

* * *

/Butchy's PoV\

I pulled up to Big Momma's just in time for Mick to come out with my sister, Cheech and Struts. "Mick." I called, getting off my bike and pulling her into a hug. "Good. Yer okay. You are okay, right?"

Mick's arms slid up my back as she pulled me close. "I'm fine, Butchy... Um, why wouldn't I be okay?"

"I'll tell you's later, okays." I said as I breathed in her hair's scent. "All you needs to know is that I'm not letting you out of my sight for a long time."

"Okay." Mick mumbled into my vest as her grip got a little bit tighter. "Whatever happened today, just know that I will always love you. To infinity..."

"And beyond." I replied on instinct. Mick came up with that a while ago and I guess it really stuck with us. It was after watching that movie series about the living toys that we started using that phrase.

Lela smiled as she put a hand on my shoulder. "Why don't you two go home for a bit and talk? You both seem to really need a breather."

I nodded as I let my hold on Mick loosen a bit. Mick took a step back, yet she laced my fingers with hers, rubbing a small circle with her thumb. "Yeahs. You ready, Mick?"

Mick leaned her head on my arm with a nod. "Let's go." The other girls gave her hugs before letting us get on my bike. Mick snaked her arms around my waist, pressing herself into my back as I started the engine. I put my hand over Mick's before returning it to it's spot on the handlebars and driving in the direction of the house.

I had a feeling this would be a long conversation.

* * *

 **BLOOPER DOOPER!**

 **It was the first scene of the day and the camera was being dangled above the bed Mick and Butchy we're on. At first, everybody was extremely nervous and on edge about the camera. After the first couple takes went by smoothly, everyone calmed down a bit.**

 **"You know what?" Mick asked.**

 **"No, what?" Butchy asked in response. As Mick was getting ready to reply, they both heard a creaking noise. Butchy looked up at the camera as one of the wires holding it up snapped. Moving as quickly as he could, Butchy grabbed Mick's hip and pulled her off his side of the bed, his free hand cradling the back of her head so she wouldn't get hurt. Not a minute later, the other cables snapped, sending the camera crashing down onto the bed.**

 **"I got really freaking lucky!" Mick exclaimed, hugging Butchy tightly. "My fiancé is Superman!"**

 **As Butchy agreed to the race against Xander, a cell phone rang on set. Butchy reached into his pocket as the song blared across the set. "Last Friday night. Yeah we danced on tabletops! And we took too many shots! Think we kissed but I forgot!"**

 **Mick groaned in frustration, "Seriously, Butchy?! You put that as your ringtone?! You just had to refresh that I everybody's mind, didn't you?"**

 **"But it was hilarious, babe!" Butchy argued with a smile.**

 **"The giant bruise on my side says otherwise!" Mick replied before walking off to get a drink.**

 **"Cut!" The director yelled. "Butchy, learn to turn the sound on your phone off before you come on set!"**

* * *

 _ **I absolutely loved putting that song in here! I had so much fun writing this for some reason.**_

 _ **Song(s): What Is This Feeling - Wicked and Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F) - Katy Perry (Bloopers)**_


	6. All Your Little Things

When Mick and I got back to our house, I parked my bike in the garage next to the machine. Mick got off the back of the seat and pulled me into a hug. I grabbed her hips and lifted her so she could wrap her legs around me.

"Butchy," Mick started as she tucked her head into my neck, "whatever happened with Xander, just know that I am right here for you and I love you."

"Not nearly as much as I love you." I smiled, kissing her shoulder. I let what she said sink in for a moment as my smile fell. "Who told you that name?"

"What?" Mick asked, "What name?"

"Xander. Who told you that he was who I went to see?" I asked in return.

Mick sighed. "Miles. He didn't know that I wasn't supposed to know, it just fell out. Why is it such a big secret?"

"Because if you knew his name, you'd try to find him so you help us stop being rivals. You're a problem solver, you do it all the time. Besides, if he knows that you're important to me, he could use you against me. I'm telling you, he's not a nice person, Mick." I claimed, shaking my head a little.

"Yes, he is." Mick retorted, moving so she could see me better, "If it's the guy I met before I left, he was super sweet. He was the guy who gave me-"

"The Harley emblem you used to make the chain for my bike." I finished, "I knows. He told me."

"What's the big deal?" Mick questioned with a somewhat frustrated look, "So what, he gave me the Harley piece, that doesn't exactly make him evil, Butchy."

"No, yer right. It doesn' make him evil. However, threatenin' to take you's away from me, does." I challenged.

Mick's face softened, instead becoming concerned. "What?"

I sighed, avoiding Mick's gaze at all costs. "Mick, Xander got to me. He pushed me into a corner and got me so ticked off that I wanted to explode. He challenged me and my love for you. He said that you would probably be willing to leave me for him any day and that I knew that. He pushed me so far and you have to know that I just couldn't take it. I'm so sorry!"

"Butchy, I... I don't understand. What happened?" Mick asked, running her hand through my hair.

"He challenged me to a race. Two weeks from now." I replied, closing my eyes so I wouldn't see the look in her eyes.

Muck gasped, "Butchy! You know I hate it when you race! Last time, you almost got killed! Why would you do that?!"

"That's not all." I said slowly. "Xander made me agree that you would be the prize we're racing for."

Mick was silent. For a moment, that scared me. I knew she was furious. Mick takes her Mom's anger when she's mad, but, last time she was this quiet, I was pretty sure somebody was going to get murdered. Suddenly, Mick took a deep breath and let it out shakily. I looked up; Mick had watery eyes that were filled with anger, confusion, disappointment, hurt and, what made my heart wrench the most, complete and utter fear.

"Mick, I- I had no choice!"

Mick shook her head as she got up off my lap and the couch. "There's always another option, Butchy. You could have walked away. You could have told him no. You could have told him that you trusted me enough to know that I would never leave you. I guess we both have trust issues, huh?" Mick walked away, but instead of going to my room like she usually would, she ran upstairs to Lela's room.

I messed up way worse than I originally thought I had.

* * *

/Mick's PoV\

I locked the door to Lela's bedroom as soon as I got in the room. I plopped down on the floor, deciding it would be better to cool myself down up here. I knew that if I ended up staying in Butchy's room, I would wait until I feel like the coast is clear so I can bolt for the machine. Not gonna happen this time. I need to face my problems, not run from them.

I took a deep breath and crawled my way over to Lela's bed. I grabbed a pillow and hugged it tight as I laid down on the fluffly bed. I relaxed for a while, attempting to keep myself together just in case Lela came home. Suddenly, I heard light tapping on the window next to me. I sat up and watched as little black pebbles tapped against the window. A slowly walked over and knelt on the small cushion in the window will, peeling the window open.

I looked out to see Xander standing on the grass behind the house with his hands filled with tiny pepes and rocks. I rolled my eyes and was about to close the window when he stopped me. "Mick, wait."

I sighed, leaning out the window again. "What are you doing here, Xander? I thought for sure you'd be out practicing for that big race you challenged Butchy to."

"I would be, but, first, I wanted to apologize for forcin' ya to be the prize." Xander claimed as he dropped the pebbles in his hand.

"It's not cool, Xander. I thought you were nice and kind, but I guess I was wrong." I stated with crossed arms.

Xander nodded, "'At's fair. I should've talked to ya first."

"Yeah..." I sighed.

"So, uh... How're things with Butchy and you?" Xander asked, staring up at me. "Trouble with the boyfriend?"

"There was, but I think I've calmed down enough to see his side of things a bit better. I need to go talk to him, Xander." I claimed. It wasn't a total lie, but it wasn't a total truth either.

Xander nodded once again, "Well, if ya ever needs to talk about anythin', ya know where I am."

"That I do. Goodbye, Xander." I waved, moving back inside the house.

"Until the next time we meet, Mick." Xander claimed as he took his leave. I shut the window and sat back down on the bed.

I blew out a long breath as I flopped my back onto Lela's bed. The closer we get to the wedding, the more complicated life gets for us. I wish everything would be as simple as it was before. I got up and headed over to the vanity I had sat at thousands of times before. I grabbed the hair brush and started brushing my hair. It's been a method of making myself think and relax since I was little and I've never let go of it.

I heard somebody coming up the stairs so I stood up, setting the brush back on the vanity. I heard a light knock before the person on the other side speak.

"Babe." Butchy started. "I'm sorry. I know that I shouldn't have done that, but I just couldn't think clearly. At the time, I was focused on what he had said about you and how much I wanted to ki- hurt him... But now? Now, I just want to beat myself up. You have every right to hate me and I don't blame you if you do... because I do too."

I stared at the door as I walked over to it. I listened as Butchy took a breath and spoke again. "Just know that I love you and that I-I will stay right h-here until you are ready to talk to me."

I unlocked the door slowly before pulling it open so Butchy could see me. "I don't hate you. I could never hate you. I hate the things you've done, but I don't hate you." I looked up into Butchy's brown eyes and saw the shock held within them.

"Y-you don't?" Butchy stammered, his voice as shaky as my breath. I shook my head and put my hand on his cheek.

"No." I stated, "Besides, I think you're putting yourself through as much as you're putting me through. I believe that's enough punishment for today." Butchy enveloped me in a hug, crushing me with the strength of his hold. "Babe, I need oxygen!"

Butchy loosened his hold and apologized before he started singing one of my favorite songs.

[Butchy:]

"Your hand fits in mine like it's made just for me, but bear this in mind, it was meant to be. And I'm joining up the dots with the freckles on your cheeks and it all makes sense to me...

I know you've never loved the crinkles by your eyes when you smile. You've never loved your stomach or your thighs, the dimples in your back at the bottom of your spine, but I'll love them endlessly...

I won't let these little things slip out of my mouth, but, if I do, it's you, oh it's you they add up to. I'm in love with you and all these little things.

You can't go to bed without a cup of tea and maybe that's the reason that you talk in your sleep. And all those conversations are the secrets that I keep, though it makes no sense to me...

I know you've never loved the sound of your voice on tape. You never want to know how much you weigh, you still have to squeeze into your jeans, but you're perfect to me...

I won't let these little things slip out of my mouth, but, if it's true, it's you, it's you they add up to. I'm in love with you and all these little things.

You'll never love yourself half as much as I love you. And you'll never treat yourself right darlin' but I want you to. If I let you know I'm here for you, maybe you'll love yourself like I love you, oh...

I've just let these little things slip out of my mouth 'cause it's you, oh it's you, it's you they add up to. And I'm in love with you and all these little things.

I won't let these little things slip out of my mouth, but, if it's true, it's you, it's you they add up to. I'm in love with you and all your little things.

"I love you so much, Mick."

* * *

/With Lela and Giggles; 3rd PoV\

"Do you think they talked about everything already?" Lela asked.

"I'm not sure." Giggles shook her head. "They both can be thick headed at times. I think Mick would probably save her day's experience with Juliet until after Butchy tells her everything."

Lela nodded in understanding and agreement. "And Butchy will probably have some big thing that makes Mick mad or sad and then she either leaves or blows a fuse and goes completely bonkers again."

"She's been doing that a lot lately. You think we should ask her about it?" Giggles asked as they sat on the front steps of her house.

"I'll ask tonight, but I don't know how much I'll get out of her. She sometimes shuts herself off after a fight with Butchy." Lela claimed.

Giggles sighed. "She needs an all girl day with us to get her mind off everything."

"Agreed." Lela nodded. "How about tomorrow? She got here after midnight last night so she still has tomorrow and the day after that until she needs to go home."

"Sounds good to me. My house or yours?" Giggles asked.

"Yours. If we have it at my house, Butchy could come interrupt and make things horrible again." Lela rolled her eyes jokingly.

"True that." Giggles nodded, "So, tomorrow we drag her over here and have a girls day?"

"Yep! Let's do it!" Lela smiled.

"Yay!"

* * *

/Mick's PoV\

After Butchy and I talked about my day and the events of my meeting with Juliet the homewrecker, Butchy had to go to yet another meeting. This time is wasn't with Xander, rather it was with Mr. Harmon, Juliet's Dad.

I tried talking him out of going, yet he still went. He's determined to get that job. Butchy had been working on my '62 Panhead for aaaaaaaaages, but this new job offer gave him the kick in the butt that he needed to finish it in time. Before he left, Butchy let me ride it... well, attempt to ride it. Now, don't get me wrong, I love to ride with Butchy, Miles or anyone else, but I have no flipping clue how to actually ride a motorcycle by myself.

I guess it's like a grown up version of a bicycle, but without pedals, easy to understand brakes, or a bunch of padding needed to keep yourself safe. To be completely honest, I sat on the bike, started it, moved back to let Butchy get on and, as soon as he said that he was letting me ride by myself, I nearly ran him over because I thought the gas was the brake.

Butchy then got on and drove me around on it; a wise decision on his part!

He had a half hour before he needed to leave so he took me for a walk along the water for a while before he left. I sat in front of Big Momma's, watching the waves roll as my friends came in and out of the restaurant. I heard chains clatter against each other as somebody walked up behind me. Miles sat down next to me, staring at me as he waited for me to say something.

"Hey, Miles." I smiled. "You gonna stare at me all day or are you actually gonna do something productive? Maybe you're just trying to annoy me?"

"Mostly the last one, if I'm bein' totally honest. Yer so much fun to annoy, Mick!" Miles laughed.

"And you do a great of annoying me, Miles." I complimented as I nudged his arm lightly.

Miles smiled brightly, "Why, thank you's, M'Lady!"

"Anytime, Miles the Annoying." I teased.

"So, any idea's how things went with Butchy and Xander?" Miles asked as he laid back on his elbows.

I sighed, "Yeah. It's not good."

Miles pushed up on his hands, "What happened?"

I closed my eyes before turning to Miles. "Xander challenged Butchy to a race. No strings."

"But he knows you hate him racing, right?" Miles asked with a curious look.

"He does. However, that's not all..." I drifted off, playing with the sand under me.

"Oh no's." Miles shook his head, "What else is there's?"

I took a deep breath before looking Miles dead in the eyes. "I'm the prize that they're fighting for."

Miles stared at me for a second before he burst out laughing. "Tha's a great joke, Mick! One o' the best so far! Yer kiddin', right?"

I shook my head. "Nope. I'm serious, forced Butchy to make me the prize to win."

Miles stopped laughing immediately and turned to me, sitting on his knees. "Mick, you got's to be kiddin'? Why would Butch agree to that?"

"I don't know." I replied as I shook my head. "What I do know is that, no matter what, Butchy has to win. If he doesn't, Xander takes me with him."

Miles stood up and started pacing, a trait I've noticed him do a lot. "We can't let Butchy lose."

"I know, but how can we help him? We'll be on the sidelines, remember?" I asked as I thought of everything Butchy told me. Miles started brainstorming out loud as I thought. "Miles," Miles turned to me. "Butchy told me that Xander said he gets everything he wants, eventually. Do you... Do you think he'll get what he wants this time?"

Miles' eyes widened before he got back down on the sand in front of me and took my shoulders in his hands. "Look, Mick, I knows that you's might not take me completely seriously because I tease ya and flirt with ya, howevah, this time, please do."

I nodded. "Okay."

Miles smiled, "I've seen Butchy race a million times ovah. I've seen 'im lose maybe three o' those times. Have faith in 'im. 'Sides, even if 'e does lose, which is very unlikely, do you's really think he'd just hand ya ovah and let Xander keep ya?"

I shook my head with a tiny giggle. "No. He'd fight like crazy."

"Exactly." Miles grinned, "Feel better now, beautiful?"

"Yeah." I smiled, "And, by the way, Miles, I take you seriously when I need to. You're like the annoying older brother I've wanted since I was little."

Miles nudged my arm a bit. "And yer the easily teaseable sis that I wanted. Besides, only I can tease ya the way I's do."

"What, you mean the obnoxiously flirty and awkward way?" I teased.

"Yep!" Miles laughed. "Wanna go get a soda? It'll be on me!"

I laughed as I got up. "It will be after I shake it up!"

Miles stood up, "Not if I shake yers first!"

We laughed as we ran toward Big Momma's. Miles always knows how to distract me from the crappy stuff in the world, doesn't he?

* * *

 _ **The song used is my personal favorite. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed and that you are eexcited for the next chapter! I know I am! I am super ready for everything in the future like the surprise- /'?)^|]€^`-(' and the fact that- / &/(-[\€=[£ is behind it all, aren't you?! Sorry, I'm experiencing technical difficulties! You'll just have to read more to find out.**_

 _ **Muahahahahahaha!**_

 _ **Song: Little Things by One Direction**_


	7. Cherries and Milkshakes

_**Hello, everybody... So... It's been one full year as of three days ago, June 28th, that I posted the Prologue of my very first original story, Broken Record. So, to celebrate this momentous occasion, I have decided to open a Twitter account for my wonderful, original, Butchy loving character: Makana Kaya Birch. On top of that, I'm writing this chapter a bit longer than the usual two or three thousand.**_

 _ **Thank you to each and every person who ever read my story. Whether you commented or not, it doesn't matter.**_

 _ **Thank you for making me the happiest 16 year old authoress alive.**_

 _ **Anyway, the song in this one is meant as kind of a joke between the guys as they're all good friends. The fact that Butchy is openly teasing his friends when he sings his part and that he actually doesn't do anything like that with Mick because he's not married is absolutely hilarious to me! My Mom suggested it and I thought it would be to have a comedy piece in this chapter.**_

 _ **Song: Pants by Walker Hayes**_

 _ **Anyway, Enjoy!**_

* * *

/Butchy's PoV\

I tapped my foot lightly on the black carpet of Mr. Harmon's office floor. I had only been here for three minutes if the clock is actually correct, yet it felt like I had been sitting in the same chair for and hour at least. I am so anxious about this. I really need this job, but this guy hasn't shown up yet and it's making me really nervous.

My head snapped to the door as Mr. Harmon entered with a couple files in his arms. I stood, "Can I's help you's with those, sir?"

"No, Butchy, I'm fine. You can sit back down." Mr. Harmon spoke as he set the files on the floor next to his desk and sat down. I quickly sat across from him. "I apologize for being a little late, however my daughter, Juliet needed me for a moment."

"It's nothin', sir. I know how it goes. My little sister, Lela does that to me sometimes." I laughed a little.

The man across from me nodded before speaking, "I see. And, please, while you are working here and even if you are off duty, never call me 'Sir'. I work for a living."

I smiled, "Does that mean that I got the job?"

"Yes, it does." Mr. Harmon smiled. "Juliet has shown me some of your work, including that Panhead you have outside. It's very impressive. Was that a total rebuild, or just a partial?"

"Total, Boss." I stated, carefully dodging around the word 'Sir'. "The only part that I's didn't rebuild was th' chain on th' front. My wife made that as a little extra flair."

Mr Harmon nodded with a thoughtful look. "I did not know you were married, son. If you don't mind me asking, who to?"

I smiled as my brown eyed beauty came to the front of my mind. "Wells, um, we's aren't yet, but our wedding is coming up soon. I's don't mind you's askin', either. Her name is Makana, but she prefers to go by her nickname, Mick. She has beautiful brown eyes and long brown hair that sparkles in the sun. She is the love of my life."

Mr. Harmon smiled, "That is wonderful, congratulations. I look forward to meeting this young beauty myself one of these fine days?"

"Mick would love that! She loves meetin' new peoples." I grinned. "I have a practice race against one of my teammates on Tuesday at Launcher Hill, if you would like to meet her. She goes to every race to make sure I stay careful."

"I will be there." Mr. Harmon reached across the table and held his hand out to me. "If you are willing, you can start on Monday."

I took his hand and shook it firmly, "Thank you so much, Mr. Harmon."

"Call me Mark."

* * *

As soon as I got home, Mick ran up to me and hugged me. "So?"

"So, what?" I asked back.

"Did you get the job?" Mick questioned, as she held me in a vice.

"Well..." Mick sighed at the defeat in my tone. "He said I can start on Monday."

"What?!" Mick shouted before she squealed. "Oh my gosh! Butchy! I'm so proud of you!"

"Thank you, babe." I smiled as I held her close.

"I love you so much!" Mick exclaimed as she reached up and pulled my face down to meet her lips. I rested my hands on her hips as we kissed. It's moments like these that I wonder how on earth I got so lucky.

As Mick pulled away, I picked her up and held her close. "I love you so much more than you know."

Mick giggled adorably as she kissed my cheek. "Butchy, you are the most amazing person I could ever wish for. Thank you for being you."

"I should be the one thanking you. I am the way I am because you are here and you love me." I smiled, kissing the side of her neck as she pulled me closer.

* * *

/5:12 AM - Day 2; 3rd PoV\

Lela and Giggles tip toed quietly into Butchy and Mick's shared bedroom. Mick was sound asleep on top of one of Butchy's arms. Lela made her way over to Mick's head and put a blindfold over her eyes. She quickly put a piece of duct tape over Mick's mouth as she and Giggles grabbed Mick by the arms and legs respectively.

Mick woke up as she was being picked up and quickly started struggling in the other girls' grips. Lela leaned down to Mick's ear, "Mick, it's Lela and Giggles. Please stop moving."

Mick slowly settled and allowed the two girls to carry her out of the room. They plopped her on the couch as Lela ran back and taped a note onto Butchy's face. "Eh. He'll see it eventually." Lela claimed quietly before dashing back to the living room.

The small piece of paper read; "We have captured your wife. If you want her back, too bad! She is ours until the end of the day! xoxo, Lela and Giggles, the kidnappers."

* * *

The girls had quickly gotten changed out of their pajamas once they arrived at Giggles' house. It was a little after six, but the waves looked nice and they had nothing else to do until the end of the day. The girls grabbed three random surfboards and hit the beach.

"So," Mick started as she paddled up next to her two friends. "what was the purpose of this kidnapping mission?"

"We just wanted to spend some quality time with our best friend!" Giggles smiled, dipping her hand in the water and splashing Mick.

"So, instead of asking me to hang out like normal people would, you kidnapped me in my sleep?!" Mick asked incredulously.

Lela sighed, rolling her eyes. "We had to get you away from Butchy for a day. If we hadn't kidnapped you, you would have asked him and he would've been like, 'Oh, Mick, please don't leave me again!' or something dramatic like that."

"Butchy is going to flip!" Mick exclaimed.

"No, he won't." Giggles shook her head. "We left him a note so he wouldn't freak out too badly."

"Well, okay then... What was the real purpose of dragging me out here?" Mick asked, twirling her fingers around in the water absentmindedly.

Lela and Giggles looked to each other before Lela turned to Mick and reached her hand out to the brunette. "Mick, Giggles and I have been thinking a lot recently about how you're not acting like you used to."

Mick nodded slowly as she took Lela's hand, "Yeah. I'm getting more mature, guys, it happens to everybody. Well, where I'm from, at least."

"Yes, but you don't surf anymore." Giggles stated.

"I don't have the time to surf anymore between wedding preparations and the three day time limit I have locked on me." Mick explained as she stared at the crystalline water surrounding her.

"You haven't been coming to the shindigs we have at Big Momma's unless Butchy is going too." Lela added.

"I wanna spend some time with my future husband, is that so wrong?" Mick asked, crossing her arms a little.

"Mick, we didn't drag you out here to make you mad." Giggles said, putting her hand on her friend's arm.

"No, we just want to show you what you're missing out on by being this new, grown up Mick." Lela nodded, rubbing Mick's arm.

"We want you to see what you could be doing." Giggles smiled. "You need to be Surfer Mick again. Or the I'm-going-to-ride-the-waves-and-not-care-what-you-think Mick that you were when we first met you. You need to be the old Mick again. If not every day, then at least just today."

"Yeah! It's time to rise with the tide and go with the flow, Mick." Lela cheered as Mick glanced between her two close friends.

Mick thought for a moment on their words. They were right. All she had been doing was planning the wedding and spending excessive amounts of time clinging around Butchy. Whatever kind of funk this was, she needed to get out of it, fast.

"Alright." Mick stated with a nod. "Let's do this."

* * *

Juliet got up from the front steps of Big Momma's as she waited for her Dad to arrive. She was pretty sure that he had hired Butchy, yet she needed to be perfectly sure that he had. Her plan was coming together nicely, however she needed one more big thing to really set the plan in motion.

Juliet headed inside with a smile on her face. Might as well entertain herself while she waited. What better means of entertainment could there be other than the brunette that sat inside.

Whatever came of this, it was going to be absolutely brilliant!

* * *

When Butchy woke up, he was initially quite worried. His wife was nowhere in sight and instead of cuddling with her, he was snuggled up to a pillow. Butchy pushed the pillow back to where it came from and sat up, rubbing his eyes. His finger knocked into the piece of paper on his forehead. He carefully pulled it off his face and read the note.

Some of the paper had crinkled and smudged because he rolled over on top of it while it was wet still, but he could clearly read some of the not crinkled or smudged writing. What Butchy could still make out was "We have captured... wife. If... want...back, too bad... Ours... end of... day... Kidnappers."

This can't be good.

* * *

After surfing for almost two hours, the female trio headed to Big Momma's for some drinks. As they we're talking and laughing about something Mick had done in the past, Juliet walked up.

"Hey, girls and... Mick." Juliet rolled her eyes. "I had wanted to introduce you girls to my Dad, but I don't think he would want to see you like that, Mick."

"See me like what, Juliet?" Mick asked in a agitated tone.

Her question was answered as Juliet tipped Mick's bottle of cherry soda over the edge of the table. The red liquid poured over Mick's blue dress, staining it a dark purple color. Mick's mouth hung open as Lela and Giggles gasped along with a few people nearby. Juliet giggled before turning to walk away. Mick slowly stood, soda dripping from the hem of her dress. Mick grabbed Lela's strawberry milkshake before walking over to Juliet and dumping it on her head shaking any extra on Juliet's white, flowery dress.

Juliet gasped before screaming at Mick. "Do you have any idea how much this dress costs?!"

"No, but I think it looks better this way." Mick smirked as she set the glass down. "Revenge is sweet, isn't it? So, this is the sweetest kind I could find. Now, run along."

"UGH! You are so irritating! You have no idea who you're messing with!" Juliet screeched as she headed for the door.

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Blondie." Mick waved as Juliet left the restaurant. Mick turned back to Lela and Giggles, "Sorry, Lela. I'll get you a new shake."

"No need!" Lela exclaimed as she and Giggles rushed over to Mick. "You are soaked! Are you okay?"

Mick nodded as she lifted the bottom portion of her dress. "I'm a little wet, but I'm okay."

Miles and Lugnut rushed over from their spot in a booth and handed Mick some napkins and paper towels. "Mick, what happened?" Miles asked as he pulled a chair up for Mick to sit on.

"Juliet tipped my drink over and it did this." Mick claimed as she sat and started patting the cherry soda stains on her chest with a napkin. "I'm so sorry, Big Momma. I promise that I will clean up all this milkshake and soda mess."

Big Momma shook her head as she approached the teen. "Mick, there's no use fussin' over a spilled milkshake. You just worry about gettin' yourself cleaned up, I'll handle the rest."

"Thank you, Big Momma." Mick smiled before sighing. "I'm sorry for causing such a huge scene, everybody."

"Mick, it's okays." Miles said calmly, putting his hand on Mick's arm. "Juliet caused the scene, not you's. Breathe, okay?"

Mick nodded before looking down at her dress again, chuckling. "I guess it's a good thing that this is just my swim suit cover."

Everyone laughed a little. "Mick, should we's go gets Butchy and have hims deal with Juliet?" Lugnut asked, setting a roll of paper towels down on the table next to Mick.

Mick thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No. Juliet is Mr. Harmon's daughter. Mr. Harmon is Butchy's Boss. If Butchy tries to talk to her about this, she will whine- I mean tell her father. Butchy could get fired from his brand new job. I don't want that for him."

"Besides," Lela started, "you're on your day away from Butchy. Why don't we go get you changed into something with less cherry soda and then we can go back to surfing."

Mick nodded. "Sounds pretty good to me. I'm ready when you are."

Lela and Giggles nodded as they grabbed the used paper towels and napkins and threw them away. Mick stood up from her chair and was about to follow them to the door when Miles picked her up from around the waist and threw her up over his right shoulder. Mick squealed, holding onto Miles' jacket as tightly as she could while he ran toward the door.

"Miles put me down! You're gonna drop me again!" Mick squealed as Miles pushed through the front door.

"Nevah gonna happen, sis!" Miles hollered.

* * *

Butchy shoved open the door to Xander's office and threw his rival to the floor. Xander stared up at Butchy in confusion. "The heck was 'at fer?!"

"You's thought you's coulds get away with it?!" Butchy yelled. "You thoughts you's coulds kidnap my wife and everythin' would be all wells and goods?!"

Xander was completely lost. "Huh? Kidnap yer wife? I nevah kidnapped nobody's!"

"Yeahs, then where is she's? Huh?!" Butchy questioned with a glare. "All 'at yer lil' henchmen left was 'is lettah? Yer a sick and twisted little f-"

"A lettah?" Xander asked, pulling himself back onto his feet. "If it had beens me, Butch, I would 'ave left ya with nothin's. Besides, we haves the race comin' up. Whys would I's take what I's can just wins?"

Butchy tossed the letter at Xander. "She wasn't there when I's woke ups. That was taped to my forehead."

Xander read the small paper over and over again before shrugging. "I'd can tell you's for sure that 'is, isn't anybodys on my team or myself. It's too... feminine. And, before you's asks, we only have three girls 'at 're in the Sparx an' 'ey all 'ave very... simplistic handwriting."

Xander handed the paper back to Butchy before sitting down at his desk. "Ya best bet is to either check with the girls on ya own team, or one of Mick's friends. Eithah ways, I's can promise you's that I's didn't take her."

* * *

When the girls got back to the beach, Mick had gotten changed out of her sticky, soda soaked dress and back into her swimsuit. The girls sat and talked for a while before they heard an engine revving close to where they were. They girls got up and turned to the noise, watching as Butchy climbed off his bike. Butchy tossed his helmet onto the sand before running inside Big Momma's.

The girls looked to each other before shrugging and grabbing their boards. Might as well catch a few more waves before they had to give Mick back to Butchy at the end of the day.

* * *

Butchy headed over to Miles and Lugnut, grabbing his usual soda along the way. "Do you's have any ideas where Mick is?"

Miles and Lugnut nodded as Butchy sighed in relief. "Yeahs." Lugnut claimed, "She's outside with Lela an' Giggles, just like she 'as been all day."

"Yeahs." Miles grinned. "By the ways, Mick might not wants any o' that cherry soda fer a whiles."

Butchy looked at the duo with a confused stare. "Whys not? She loves the stuff."

"Ask her, not me!" Miles laughed before going back to the card game he was playing with Lugnut.

Butchy shook his head a little before setting his glass bottle down on the table and heading back out the front door. He looked along the beach, searching for any trace of his brown haired, bright eyed, soon-to-be wife. Once he realized she wasn't there, Butchy was ready to head back inside. Then he heard it. Mick's laugh. Butchy followed the sound to the ocean and watched the waves as they moved to reveal Mick, Lela and Giggles sitting on surfboards in the middle of the ocean. They were laughing and talking as they just sat there.

"Mick!" Butchy called, stealing Mick's attention away from her two best friends. "Where have you been all day?!"

Mick turned to Lela and Giggles as they explained something to her. Mick started laughing hysterically before she turned back to Butchy. "I've been with Lela and Giggles all day, why?!"

"I thought-!" Butchy stopped, cutting himself off and taking a breath before continuing, "Y'know what, never mind! I'll tell you's later. You have fun with yer friends."

Butchy turned back to Big Momma's as Mick shrugged behind him. "I love you!" Mick called to Butchy.

"I love you too!" Butchy yelled back before heading toward the restaurant again.

The three girls went back to their conversation as Butchy went back inside Big Momma's. Butchy picked up his soda bottle again as he sat down next to Lugnut and across from Miles. "I'm playing next game."

Miles looked to Lugnut with a silly smirk. Lugnut nodded slowly as they finished the tail end of their game. Just as Butchy was about to pick up the cards and shuffle them, some music started playing. Lugnut turned to Butchy and told him to listen to him for a minute.

/Lugnut\

Well you've been a strong-willed son of a gun ever since you were suckin' yer thumb, but push came to shove when you fell in love with yer baby.

/Butchy - Spoken\

"My Baby?"

/Miles\

Yeahs, yer baby.

/Butchy\

Well you's could say she's overbearing. Matter fact she picked out the clothes that I'm wearing.

/Miles\

And you can't go riding without her permission!

/Butchy\

But I ain't complaining, we've got an arrangement...

She can wear the can run the show. She can crack a whip like Indiana Jones. She can rule the roost. She can snap and holler. She can wear the pants...

Long as I can take 'em off her!

/Miles and Lugnut - Spoken\

"You what?!"

/Butchy\

Long as I can take 'em off her!

She calls the shots, gives the orders, makes the plans. That womans wish is my command. And, I'm telling you, I got more honey-do's than every fruit truck on 40.

But I'll get 'em done shortly.

/All three\

She can wear the pants. She can run the show. She can crack a whip like Indiana Jones. She can rule the roost. She can snap and holler. She can wear the pants...

/Butchy\

Long as I can take 'em off her!

Well she can push me around, but, when the sun goes down, look out theres a new sherrif in town!

/Miles and Lugnut\

Oh, oh, oh, ow! Ahhh, yeah! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

/Bucthy\

Well I get a whole lotta flack from the fellas, but I reckon that they're just jealous 'cause I get to explore what's under them drawers and they don't! So, hey, they can say what they want...

/All three\

She can wear the pants. She can run the show. She can crack a whip like Indiana Jones. She can rule the roost. She can snap and holler. She can wear the pants...

/Butchy with (Miles and Lugnut)\

Long as I can take 'em off her!

(Oh oh oh)

Long as I can take 'em off her!

(Oh yeah)

Long as I can take 'em off her!

(Oh oh oh)

Long as I can take 'em off her!

As the song came to an end, Butchy high fived his friends and was going to sit back down when he was pulled out of the booth and turned around.

"'As long as you can take them off', huh?" Mick asked, her arms crossed over her chest. Butchy laughed nervously as he tried to avoid her eyes. "I actually quite like that arrangement." Mick teased, making Butchy's face burn bright red.

"Good goin's, Butchy!" Miles cheered from his seat.

Mick pulled Butchy by his vest so he was nose to nose with her. "I'm messing with you, Butchy. However, keep it up for their sake if you must. I'll see you at home later."

With that being said, Mick gave her frozen future husband a kiss before saying goodbye to Lugnut and Miles and heading back outside with the girls. Butchy stood there for a minute, contemplating what just happened. When he finally snapped back out of it, Butchy plopped himself into the booth chair and sighed.

Mick really did have him whipped, didn't she?

* * *

 _ **As I said earlier, guys, that song is absolutely hilarious to me and I don't know why. Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter and I can't wait to write another! So excited! My family actually threw me a big BBQ pool party at my Uncle Kevin's house to celebrate my anniversary. They all gave me some pretty cool ideas. Can't wait to use them.**_

 _ **If you don't go on Polyvore to check out the outfits I make for each chapter, you won't know this, but I kinda posted an outfit that I wasn't actually going to use yet. It's not a big deal, but it's there and my brain is calling me an imbecile. My brain is so nice to me, isn't it! XD**_

 _ **-DD**_


	8. Tunnel Vision Part 1

_**Guess what everybody... MICK HAS A TWITTER! Her Twitter user name thing is TheRealMakana and she will tweet to you, follow you and DM you if you want! Go ahead and follow away, my minions! XD**_

 _ **The story Mack and Brady share about Mick as a baby is a true story from when I was inside my Mom and she really wanted to evict me. I used to be a little monster, but, hey, we all were at one point.**_

 ** _Song: Photograph by Ed Sheeran_**

 _ **Anyway, enjoy!**_

* * *

After surprising Butchy at the end of his song, Mick grabbed her drink and headed home with Lela and Giggles. "So, then, I walked behind him and told him that I liked that arrangement! His face was priceless!" Mick laughed as she explained what had happened.

The other two girls broke into fits of laughter as they got closer to Mick and Lela's house. As the three girls walked, a figure appeared under a nearby street lamp. The trio didn't notice the person until it called out to them.

"'At there sounds like a funny scene."

Mick's attention snapped to the male voice as the person lifted their head. The mop of shiny hair shook as the person lifted their eyes to meet Mick's. If the blonde hair wasn't proof enough, the leather jacket was.

"Hey, Xander." Mick waved. "What are you doing this far away from your Sparx headquarters?"

Xander walked over, pushing himself off the lamp post and walking with an arrogant swagger. "I needs t' talk with you's."

"What about?" Mick asked calmly.

Lela and Giggles looked to each other. Why was Mick acting so calm about this?! It was Xander, leader of the rival Sparx gang, and she was talking to him like she would with anybody!

"First things first, those friends o' yers gots t' go." Xander stated. Lela and Giggles turned and started walking away.

"They can stay if they want." Mick claimed, taking Lela by the arm to stop her.

Xander gave Mick a look, "Wha' was 'at?"

Mick rolled her eyes. "I said, 'They can stay if they want.' Do you have a problem with that?"

"Look, lil lady, when I win that race against Butchy-"

"Correction, 'IF you win the race'." Mick cut Xander off. "You shouldn't get so cocky and arrogant before a big race, it could just be your downfall."

Xander started again, "Fine. If I win the race against Butchy, ya should learn to shut yer mouth and just listen like every othah gal around town does."

"I'm not like 'every gal', Xander. I'm me." Mick grinned, crossing her arms over her chest. "I don't know why it's such a big deal here, but, where I'm from, girls can do anything guys can do. We don't just sit in the back and wait to be spoken to."

Lela put her hand on Mick's shoulder. "Mick, you're going to get us in trouble!"

Mick turned to Lela and Giggles with a strong face. "I don't care. I am not going to just sit and be a good girl. Sometimes, we have to fight for what and who we believe in!"

Lela and Giggles loot at each other before shaking their heads. "You are definitely Mack's daughter."

"There's no stopping her now." Giggles smiled.

Xander chuckled. "Eithah ways, Mick, ya will be mine someday."

"Good luck with that, Xander. Butchy won't just give up. He loves me and he will fight for me." Mick stated firmly with her hands on her hips.

"Maybe he already has." Xander tilted his head a bit.

Mick stared at Xander in slight confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, he 'asn't told ya yet?" Xander laughed.

Mick sighed in agitation. "Quit beating around the bush, Xander! Tell me what Butchy did."

Xander grinned, "Yer husband came into my office today."

Mick shrugged, that didn't sound so bad. What could have possibly happened? "And?"

"And he accused me of kidnappin' ya." Xander finished as he put his hands in his pockets.

Mick whirled around to Lela and Giggles. "I thought you left him a note!"

"We did!" Lela and Giggles exclaimed in unison.

Mick shook her head as she turned back to Xander. "You are lying. Butchy wouldn't do that."

"Are ya sure?" Xander asked rhetorically, "He seemed pretty serious when he threw me t' th' floor."

Mick took a step away from Xander before shaking her head again. "I will ask Butchy when he gets home. However, this conversation is going no where so, unless you have anything else to say to me, my girls and I will be taking our leave."

"One more thing before ya go." Mick nodded to Xander. "Even if I don't win this race, I will be able to steal ya away from Butch. I always get what I want, ya know that, Mick."

Mick nodded, "I know that, Xander, but I have faith in Butchy and his ability to race. This might just be the first time that you don't get what you want."

"If you say so, Mick." Xander shrugged.

Mick sighed. "I do, Xander. Now, I'll see you at the race. Goodbye, Xander."

"Later, Mick." Xander claimed as he turned and walked away.

Lela and Giggles stared at Mick as she took a deep breath to calm herself a little. Mick turned with a smile and put herself between the two girls. Mick laced her arms through her best friends' arms. "Let's go home."

"You sure you are okay?" Giggles asked.

"I'm fine." Mick nodded. "I need a break. Do you wanna come over and help me make dinner, Giggles?"

"I'd love to, Mick, but are you sure you don't want to go talk to Butchy first?" Giggles asked as they started walking toward the house.

Mick nodded. "Yeah. I will talk to him when he gets back home tonight, but I just need to think for a while before I bother trying."

Lela smiled. "Alright. Let's go!"

* * *

Butchy draped his arms around Mick's waist as he came up behind her. Mick put her spoon down as she looked over her shoulder at Butchy. "Hey, Babe. What's for dinner?"

Mick smiled, "Campanelle in your favorite sauce with bread and butter on the side. I also made soup. Did you want some?"

Butchy pressed a kiss to Mick's cheek. "You know I do. Everything you make is the best. Don't tell Lela."

Mick laughed as she turned to Butchy. "I won't. The soup is in the green bowl in the fridge and the pasta is on the stove in the covered pot."

"You are the best." Butchy smiled, kissing Mick lightly. "Do you know how much I love you?"

Mick's smile faltered a bit. "Enough to go rough up Xander on my account?"

Butchy moved away a little. "What do you mean?"

"When Lela, Gigs and I were walking home and Xander decided he wanted to fill me in on some stuff that happened while I was with my female kidnappers." Mick stated slowly.

"Like what?" Butchy asked with equal slowness.

"Did you seriously throw him to the floor?" Mick asked with a hopeful stare. Mick was praying and hoping that it wasn't true, but, by Butchy's nervous look, she knew that the event had acutally occurred. "Butchy..." Mick dragged out as she rose from her spot at the island.

"Mick, please don't go yet!" Butchy claimed (way louder than necessary) as he took Mick's hand in his own. "I know you usually leave when something like this happens because you need a break from it all, but please! You have to hear me out, Babe!" Butchy exclaimed as he put his hands on Mick's cheeks.

Mick smiled a little as she took Butchy's hands in her own and moved them away from her face. "Butchy, calm down. I was going to hear you out either way. All I was going to do, was get up and give you a hug. Go get your food and then we can sit in the living room and talk it all out. Sound good to you?"

Butchy pulled Mick into a tight hug. "Sounds amazing. I love you so much."

"I love you too. However, if you don't go grab the pasta I left for you, I might just eat it myself." Mick dropped out of Butchy's hug and ran around the island. Butchy stared at the empty space Mick had been occupying before looking up at the giggling eighteen year old. Butchy smiled as he ran around the counter, chasing his future wife around the granite table top.

The pair ran around the island, laughing and attempting to chase and avoid each other for a few minutes. Makana grabbed the pot of pasta off the stove and snuck a pair of spoons and a pair of forks in her dress pocket as she ran by the dry silverware in the dish strainer. Mick turned to Butchy and laughed, making a funny face at him before running toward the bedroom. Butchy laughed at Mick before chasing after her. Butchy wrapped his arms around his wife as he reached her.

Butchy looked at the scene Mick had set up in their bedroom with a smile. Their shared bed was moved against the far wall, the blanket they had used when it was cold at night was on the floor in a picnic style arrangement as scattered candles lit the room in a warm, fiery orange glow. On the center of the blanket, a couple of bowls sat around a plate of seemingly fresh bread and butter.

"Did my Beautiful Queen set this all up?" Butchy asked as he glanced around the room.

"I had a little help, admittedly." Mick smiled, leaning back into Butchy's chest. "Before Lela went to bed and Giggles went home, they helped me move stuff around and make dinner."

Butchy kissed Mick's throat before taking her hand and spinning her around. "Thank you."

"For what?" Mick asked, ducking her head under Butchy's arm as he twirled her around again.

"Being like this." Butchy attempted to explain. "It isn't our anniversary, my birthday or your birthday, I hope-"

"It isn't." Mick assisted as she stopped spinning, her dress swinging around her gently as it fluttered to a stop. "Anniversary is next week, your birthday is next month, and my birthday is the week after our anniversary."

"Good." Butchy sighed dramatically in relief. "Anyway, it isn't a special day and, even though you had no idea that I've had one of the longest days of my life, you surprise me with a dinner picnic here at home. This is one of the most- no. You know what, this is THE most special and sweet thing anybody has ever done for me."

Mick felt her face burn a bit as she reached up and took Butchy's face in her hands. "I may not know what happened today, but I can sometimes tell when you need a break. Earlier, when you and I had a yelling conversation over the ocean, I had a feeling you could use a bit of just us time."

Butchy inhaled deeply, "You have no idea..."

"Want to talk about it?" Mick asked, pressing her nose to Butchy's. "While we eat, preferably."

"I would love to, but, first, could I please just spend a few minutes-"

"Anytime." Mick cut in as she pulled Butchy toward their bed, knowing exactly what her future husband wanted. "There is never a moment I would refuse you that. If it helps you to know that I am here with you, by all means, go right ahead."

Butchy nodded as he laid down on, for the first time since he and Mick had gotten together, his side of the bed. Mick smiled as Butchy pulled her over to him and rested his head on her chest. Mick stared at Butchy as he listened to her heart, gazing into her dark, caramel eyes with a soft smile. Butchy laced his fingers through Mick's as his other hand traced finger trails through her hair.

"Can you sing for me?" Butchy asked.

"If you'll sing with me." Mick said softly as Butchy nodded.

"You know I will." Butchy smiled as he laid down beside Mick and held her close. "I'll start then."

/Butchy\

Loving can hurt. Loving can hurt sometimes, but it's the only thing that I know. When it gets hard, you know it can get hard sometimes… it is the only thing that makes us feel alive.

We keep this love in a photograph. We made these memories for ourselves. Where our eyes are never closing, hearts are never broken, time's forever frozen still…

/Both\

So you can keep me inside the pocket of your ripped jeans, holdin' me closer 'til our eyes meet. You won't ever be alone.

Wait for me to come home.

/Mick\

Loving can heal. Loving can mend your soul… and it's the only thing that I know. I swear it will get easier. Remember that with every piece of ya. And it's the only thing we take with us when we die.

We keep this love in this photograph. We made these memories for ourselves. Where our eyes are never closing, our hearts were never broken, time's forever frozen still.

/Both\

So you can keep me inside the pocket of your ripped jeans, holdin' me closer 'til our eyes meet. You won't ever be alone.

And if you hurt me, that's OK, baby, only words bleed. Inside these pages you just hold me and I won't ever let you go.

Wait for me to come home.

/Butchy\

Wait for me to come home.

/Mick\

Wait for me to come home.

/Both\

Wait for me to come home.

/Butchy\

Oh you can fit me inside the necklace you got when you were 16, next to your heartbeat, where I should be. Keep it deep within your soul.

And if you hurt me, well, that's okay, baby, only words bleed. Inside these pages you just hold me and I won't ever let you go.

When I'm away; I will remember how you kissed me next to the lighthouse back on Zuma Beach. Hearing you whisper through the phone…

"Wait for me to come home."

* * *

The next next three days were definitely not so peaceful or relaxing.

Butchy had been pulled away from Mick every morning by his friends as they needed him to help set up the last bits of décor for the wedding reception party. Mick had been dragged upstairs by Lela to get her dress redone and adjusted. Mick was just happy that she wasn't the only human pin cushion for a couple days. All the other girls that were Mick's bridesmaids had to get their dresses finished as well.

Luckily, Butchy and Mick had picked out their wedding colors way before anything started to be planned out. They had decided on a very patriotic color scheme; red for Butchy's favorite color, white for the traditional wedding thing, and blue for Mick's favorite color. Everybody loved the idea, so they all came together to start the colorful preparations. The boys had taken off to Big Momma's to make sure everything could fit, but it was hard putting everything up and then taking it all back down every time. The girls had all decided to help Mick with dresses, make up, nails, hair, shoes, and basically everything under the sun that was needed for this wedding.

Mick was having trouble deciding between Lela and Giggles. The two girls are her best friends, but she could only have one Maid of Honor, right? Instead of worrying about everything else, Mick was more concerned about her Maid of Honor situation. It was probably the most difficult thing she had to face with this wedding. On top of that, Mick hardly had any time to do anything other than work and sleep. She had gone home the day she was supposed to, but, as soon as she returned, it was back to all work and nothing else. Mick didn't even remember the last time she ate an acutal full meal. Her entire body just felt dragged.

The brunette groaned as she flopped her head onto Lela's vanity table. Struts looked over to Mick with concern as she stopped what she was doing and walked over to her friend. "What's wrong, M?"

"I am having the cringiest cringe attack and the most existentially existential crisis in the world at the same time." Mick mumbled into the table.

"I don't get it." Struts shook her head before popping her gum.

"I'm questioning my existence while I'm cringing about the worst things I've ever done." Mick explained hurriedly. "It's a void that I don't usually look into, but, when I do, I welcome it with open arms because, frankly, I have no choice."

"Why are you havin' this crisis?" Struts asked as she put a hand on Mick's back.

Mick sighed. "I couldn't decide who I want as my Maid of Honor and that somehow spiraled me into the void of existentialness. My mind is in a black hole right now, I swear."

Struts shook her head as she blew a bubble and popped it. "Hey, Cheech! Mick needs a breather!"

CheeChee nodded before running over and grabbing Mick's hand. "Let's go outside fer a bit, yeah?"

Mick nodded as she lifted her head from the vanity. "Yeah. I haven't seen the sun in two or three days."

"Time t' go see it, then." Cheech and Struts smiled as they lifted Mick to her feet and pulled her toward the door.

As soon as Mick stepped outside, she sighed dramatically at the sun. "The sun is hot... I like it." Mick flopped into the sand as she felt the sun warm her skin. "I feel like I'm freezing, but the sun is helping."

Struts bent down and felt the other brunette's forehead. Struts shook her head a little at the heat that graced her wrist before turning to CheeChee. "Cheech, go gets Lela."

CheeChee ran back inside as Struts took off Mick's leather jacket. "Hey!" Mick protested, "That jacket was nice and warm!"

"Exactly." Struts nodded as she tossed the jacket toward the house. "You needs the heat t' leave yer body, not get trapped in some jacket and keep yer body burnin'."

Mick scoffed as she sat up in the sand. "I feel fine, Struts!"

Mick pulled herself to her feet slowly so her heels wouldn't sink. As soon as she reached her full height, Mick watched as drak spots flooded her vision from all sides. They spread into one another and got bigger and wider until they nearly blocked Mick's vision entirely. Mick gasped as the dizzying blackness knocked the air out of her. As slowly as it had started, the blackness turned to greyness and slowly moved back to the edges of Mick's eyes before sliding completely from her sight.

Somewhere during Mick's dizzy spell, she had reached out for Struts arm, hoping that somehow the other brunette could help her out of whatever it was. As soon as the darkness faded away, Mick's breathing got heavier as she tried to focus. Struts attempted to help her friend stay on her feet as Mick stumbled on the sand. CheeChee and Lela ran out of the house and onto the beach, regardless if they were wearing high heels or not.

Lela and CheeChee helped support Mick before sending Struts to go get help from the guys. Then, the two raven haired girls assisted Mick to the living room. Mick mubled something almost incoherent about her Mom and Dad, but almost nothing else was actually understood from the sentence.

As soon as Giggles saw and heard Mick's condition, she ran for the garage. Giggles knew. She knew that even if they didn't know the answer to what had happened, Mack and Brady would. They were smart and they knew more about Mick than anybody else in any world. They just had to know what happened.

* * *

/Mick's PoV\

My eyelids were very heavy when I felt my brain turn back on. It was like my brain was fuzzy and tired, but I felt like getting up and running a marathon... twice. I flipped out when I realized that I couldn't move my body much, if at all. My mouth had that mucky, sticky, dryish feeling. I felt like asking for water, but I couldn't open my mouth to do so.

I attempted to relax as I tried to feel the object that was underneath me. I was able to twitch my pinkie finger on my right hand a bit, but the object rippled under my touch. It felt soft life a bed, yet rough like a blanket. I assumed it was the couch, but my older cousins always told me to never assume anything until it completely positive or negative.

I felt a hand holding my left hand and, judging by the hairs and the rougher skin, I could almost completely guess it was a guy. However, in the world we live in, you can never be fully sure. I twitched my fingers on the hand that held mine as I heard the person move a little.

Anyway, I decided to listen to the conversation that was going on around me. I could very clearly hear very familiar voices, yet they were very hushed. It was like they were trying to keep a secret.

"Lela," one voice claimed, "I'm not sure-"

"Butchy," another chimed, "Mick has been like this for almost three hours. I think we need to go get Mack and Brady."

"No need." I heard a new voice say as I heard more people surround me. "I went to get them. They were getting worried when Mick hadn't come home already."

"Please, Mack, Brady, do somethin'." I heard the first voice plead in a low, quiet voice as they let go of my hand and stood up. I heard the floor next to me creak as somebody took the last person's spot and my left hand.

"Baby Girl, I know you're listening to me." I heard my Dad state. "Ever since I knew you existed, I talked to you. I don't think you would remember the story, but when you were inside your Mom still, I used to talk to you and tell you to kick her while she was working."

"You listened to Daddy every time." Mom chimed in. "Every night, I would go to work at Walmart and, every night, you would listen to Daddy and kick me like crazy. You always had this insane connection."

"After you were born, I would read to you every morning and every night before I left for work." Dad continued. "I think you know this story, but when you were seven and we watched that old Hannah Montana movie, you practically forced me to sing that same butterfly song with you."

"How is 'at helpin'?" I heard one person ask. "As much as I want her to, I's don't think she's wakin' up yet..."

"Watch." Mom claimed calmly. "Their connection has to be triggered a bit for it to maybe wake her up."

"Peanut, I swear, if you don't show me some kind of proof that you're actually listening to me right now, I will start singing." Dad stated firmly.

 _'DAD, DON'T YOU DARE! I love you and all, but NO!'_ I thought to myself. _'I remember how you used to sing that in such a goofy voice and just NO!_ '

I quickly forced my index finger on the hand Dad was holding to move. I traced a lazy squiggle on my Dad's palm as I heard him laugh. "She tickled me!"

Somebody took my right hand and held it up a bit. "Hey, Mick, it's Momma. I know you tickled your Dad, but can you squeeze my hand as tightly as possible?"

I gripped my right hand a little, waiting for Mom's reaction. There was silence for a moment before Mom spoke again. "Alright, Baby Girl. If you can do that, we will play a game with you. Butchy, come here."

I felt my hand move from my Mom to somebody else. "If you remember Butchy and your relationship, hold his hand super tight..." Mom's voice faded a little before she continued her sentence...

"If you don't, just let him go."


	9. Tunnel Vision Part 2

Two years. Two years can translate into many different things: twenty-four months; one hundred four weeks; 730 days and so on. In that same amount of time, many things could happen: you could fall in love; get engaged; meet people who make you forget what your life was like without them; make amazing memories with the people you love.

Memories...

One month. One month can translate into multiple different things: four weeks; up to thirty one days; 730 hours; 43,800 minutes; 2,628,002.88 seconds and so on. In that same amount of time, you could do so much, yet remember so little. Memory is important to everybody. Sometimes, we shouldn't take memory for granted. You never know what's in your memory until you lose it all.

Memory...

It's been one month since I first woke up on that couch. In that one month, I've become a memory to people that I don't even remember. They say that I've done so much with them. They remember things like my first conversation with them, my first day with them, the first time I slept over, the first time I influenced them to try something crazy or unique...

I remember none of this.

Apparently, when I started feeling faint that day, I fell and hit my head on a rock that was hidden in the middle of a bush. I hit in on the exact part of my brain that keeps my memory. In that one moment, I almost lost everything.

I lost almost two and a half years of my life.

The last full memory that I have is on June 29, 2036. The day I decided to take the Destiny Board for a ride on those giant waves. I remember hitting the waves and totally crushing it... until a wave caught me and pulled me under. That's it. That's all I remember.

I mean, I remember my family: Mom, Dad, Uncle Devon, Aunt Jami, Hudson, Great Grampa... I remember everything before June twenty ninth. Everything and everyone after that is a complete and total blurr to me. Everybody who is around me in this place says that I'm going to remember soon, but I think I'm just going to give up trying. I haven't remembered anything at all in this month without my memory. I can't even remember people that I met after that day.

There's Lela who keeps trying to trigger something in my brain by doing things that she says we do a lot together. Miles, a boy who seems to really like me, but knows that I don't understand half of what he's saying about me or the past two full years old my life. Giggles, a smart blonde girl with a big heart, she takes me surfing and shopping sometimes, hoping it will start something. Lugnut, a super tall dude with a "gentle giant" soul, he takes me around on his motorcycle and protects me like an older brother or a bodyguard.

Then there's Butchy... I don't know what to think about him. When I stay the night at his and Lela's house, he always looks sad or... mad. I'm not sure why, but I've caught him staring so much that it's kinda creepy. Sometimes, when I stop by his room to see if he can help me with something, he tries to avoid talking to me. It makes me scared sometimes. Did I do something wrong? Is he mad at me or was the last we did together an argument?

I could be over thinking things, but I truly don't understand what I did to make Butchy mad. He won't tell me. Nobody will. It's like this giant secret that I'm left out on. Sometimes, it gets so bad that he only leaves his room when he needs to. I talked with him once about how he treats me differently than everybody else, but he refused to see my side of things. I feel like there's something I'm missing when I talk with him. Like there's something I'm supposed to say when I walk by him or when I finish a one-sided conversation with him. Granted, he doesn't talk back much, so it isn't like I could just walk up to him and ask him what his deal is.

Butchy has this big race everybody has been telling me about, but he keeps postponing it. I overheard him talking about it in the living room while I was eavesdropping in the kitchen. He said it's because he wants me to be able to remember him before I cheer for him, but I think he's just using my memory as a shield to hide behind. Sometimes, I wanna smack him and tell him to just race already, but I don't want to make the situation between us even worse.

Today, I'm spending the night with Lela at her and Butchy's house. I'm going to try talking to Butchy the most I can, but I'm not sure if it'll work. If it doesn't, I can always talk to Lela and try to wiggle worm an answer out of her. It's not exactly the best plan, but it's a plan. It's always good to have a back up plan just in case the first plan goes down in flames.

Anyway, back to the present!

I entered Lela's bedroom and sat on the chair in front of her vanity mirror. I stared at my reflection for a moment as I took my hair down from it's braid. I like the way my hair grew out over the years. I picked up one of the brushes Lela had left out on the counter and started brushing my hair. I started humming a song as I let the bristles run through my hair. I heard somebody coming toward Lela's door, but I ignored it, assuming it was just Lela as she had gone to get some ice cream for us before I came over.

"Lela, are you in here?" Butchy asked as he came in.

I looked over to him before shaking my head. "Sorry, Butchy. Lela is out getting ice cream. I'm the only one in here."

Butchy nodded, yet still stayed in the room. "Um... Mick, I-I just- I want to apologize for not talking to you much. I just- I remember everything we've done together and, the fact that you don't makes it so hard to be around you."

I set the brush down on the vanity before crossing the room to Butchy. "Look, I get it. But, I feel like I have it worse. I don't remember anything that happened in the past two years! The least you could do is tell me some of the good things, right?"

Butchy stared at me for a second as I crossed my arms over my chest nervously. Butchy smiled, "Alright. I guess that's fair. Were you just brushing your hair?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "It helps me think sometimes. Well, at least it did before all of this happened. I don't know if it still does. Why?"

"Because, if I'm telling you things that we did, we are going to start right now." Butchy smiled, offering me his hand.

I tilted my head in curiosity before shrugging and taking his hand. Butchy led me back over to the vanity and let me sit before letting go of my hand and gesturing to the brushes. "I was using this one." I murmured as I picked up the small, wooden, boar brush. I held the bristles as I offered Butchy the handle of the small brush. Instead of taking the handle and talking, Butchy just stared at the brush.

"Were you actually using this one?" I nodded before looking down at the other brushes on the vanity table. Butchy let out a shaky breath as he reached up and took the brush. "A part of you knows what I'm about to tell you. If you don't, that's alright, but a part of you remembers this moment and you have no idea how happy that makes me."

I looked up at Butchy's reflection in the mirror, surprise filling me as I saw the "tough guy leader" wipe tears from his eyes. I quickly stood back up and turned to face Butchy. "Butchy... what's wrong?"

Butchy smiled sadly as he put a hand on my cheek. "A part of you remembers me. I'm just happy, that's all."

"No, you aren't!" I scoffed before stepping over the vanity chair and wrapping my arms around the biker's middle. "Whatever we were or are, something is bothering you about this. Please tell me. I want to know what is going on and how I can make it better."

Butchy put his arms around me carefully before sighing shakily. "We were so close. You used to come in my room every single night to talk and sing songs with me- unless you had to go home, of course. Anyway, this hair brush thing may be unimportant, but, the memory that comes with it, was a very special memory for me of us."

I peered up at Butchy and put my hands on his face, wiping whatever tears I could as they traced wet lines down his face. "I know this has to be hard for you, but, please. I have to know what I'm missing, even if it's the tiniest bit of information."

Butchy nodded before taking my hands and turning me to face the vanity again. "Sit down, Ba- I mean Mick."

I sat down before glancing at Butchy's reflection. Butchy cleared his throat a bit as he tried to force the tears in his deep brown eyes away. "What were you about to call me?" I asked as Butchy ran the brush through my hair.

"Babe. I've been calling you that for years. You and I always called each other by different names." Butchy took a deep breath before taking some of my hair in his hands and brushing the soft waves.

"Oh. I wish I could remember that. You can call me that if you want, I won't mind. Have you counted how many times this month you've wanted to call me that?"

"This month in total? I'm not sure. Just today? Two hundred eighty five."

"Wow... So, does that mean we were dating before I forgot everything?" I questioned.

"We were actually engaged, but not at the time when the brush story happened."

"Oh, okay. So, what is the story with the brush?" I asked, my eyes sliding closed as Butchy brushed my hair.

"Just like earlier, you were sitting up here, brushing your hair. I came in looking for Lela and we started talking about how you brushed your hair one hundred strokes every morning and every night." Butchy explained. "I said something along the lines of, 'If I ever tried that, your hair would be a disaster.'"

"By how you're doing right now, I'd say you did a great job back then too." I smiled, tilting my head back a little.

"I'm not sure how or why, but you liked , After that, Lela came in and started teasing me about doing your hair and the whole thing went nuts."

I laughed, "That sounds funny!"

"It was even more funny after Lela left and we had thought it all over more. How about I give you some more details?" Butchy asked as he took a hair tie from the vanity table.

"I would love that."

/Two years ago, (Told from 3rd PoV)\

As the brunette brushed out her hair in front of Lela's vanity, her attention was drawn to the doorway as her boyfriend entered the room.

"Hey." Mick said as Butchy crossed the room and stood behind her.

"Hey, beautiful." he replied with a kiss to her cheek.

"What's up? Did you need Lela for something?"

"Yeahs, I do. Where is she?"

"She just went to get a few things from her bathroom and she'll be right back." Mick stated as she started brushing her hair again.

"What are you doing?"

"Brushing my hair. Why?" Mick asked as she pulled her hair to the side.

"When I came in, you were counting. Why were you?"

"I brush my hair one hundred strokes every morning and every night. It makes my hair grow longer, softer and gain shine. Here," She insisted, flipping her hair to the back, "feel it."

As Butchy stroked the soft strands, he had a thoughtful look on his face. "Doesn't it hurt?"

"Does what hurt?"

"Brushing yer hair that much?"

"No." Mick said with a shake of her head.

Butchy gave a short laugh. "If I did that to you, yer hair would look terrible. There would be knots and tangles everywhere."

Mick scoffed. "No there wouldn't. Here, you try."

"I don't wanna hurt you's."

"You won't, Butchy. I trust you." Mick smiled, handing her boyfriend the brush.

The brunette biker smiled at his girlfriend's trust as he took the brush from her. The first stroke of her hair was a test; seeing if he had accidentally pulled her hair. With a shake from Mick to show that nothing happened, Butchy kept brushing his girl's hair.

After a couple moments, Mick giggled. Butchy had this intensely concentrated face on. It was super adorable!

"Butchy," Mick started, reaching up to rub Butchy's forearm, "I love you, but you don't need to be so focused."

Butchy looked down as his face heated up. "I know. I just don't wanna hurt you. You're my girl."

Mick looked into the mirror at her boyfriend and smiled. "Butchy, you're blushing. It's so sweet!"

Butchy cleared his throat before resuming his previous task of brushing Mick's hair. Brushing off his previous embarrassment, Butchy watched his girlfriend in the mirror as her eyes slid shut and her face relaxed.

"This is so nice." Mick sighed, "It really relaxes me when somebody is playing with my hair."

Butchy chuckled, "Glad I could help. To tell you's the truth, I'm actually enjoying this."

Mick giggled, yet said nothing, merely enjoying the time she had with Butchy. A few minutes passed before a laugh was heard from the doorway.

Lela.

"Butchy, are you brushing Mick's hair?" Lela asked in astonishment.

"No!"

"Then, what's that in your hand?" Lela asked as she pointed to looked down at the brush in his hand before throwing it out the open window. "Nothing!"

"Are you practicing hair?" Lela teased her brother. "You should open up a beauty parlor! We could call it Butchy's Beauties!"

"Lela." Butchy groaned as Lela teased him. It had been enough that she had probably seen him smiling as he brushed Mick's hair; this teasing was not wanted or needed.

"I think I'll just leave you two alone for a little while longer, but, Mick, you have to tell me how this went later during our secret session!"

"Lela!" the couple exclaimed in disbelief.

After the raven haired teen left, Butchy shook his head with a sigh. "She is unbearable."

"Yeah, but she's your sister." Mick smiled.

"And I love her."

/Present. Mick's PoV\

"Did you seriously throw the brush out the window?!" I asked in surprise.

"Yeah... not my best moment, but I loved every second of that night." Butchy said as he set the hair brush down and told me to open my eyes.

I opened my eyes and winced. Either the light had gotten brighter or something was happening. My head throbbed as a shock of pain hit my skull. I gasped as I grabbed my head.

"Mick? Babe, what's wrong? Talk to me. Babe? " Butchy asked as I moved to stand up. I felt Butchy's hands on my arms as I whined.

"My head. It hurts, Butchy. Something's happening to my head." I whispered so I wouldn't bother my head any further. "Butchy, help me."

"Babe, sit down, okay? I'll be right back." Butchy claimed as he guided me to Lela's bed and had me sit on it.

I let go of my head for a second and grabbed Butchy's hand as tightly as I could. "Don't leave me." I cried as I stared up at Butchy with tears in my eyes. "I don't know why, but I need you to stay! I'm scared, Butchy. Don't go..."

Butchy quickly got down on the floor in front of me. "Okay, I won't. What's wrong?"

"My head, the same place I hit on that rock, it hurts even more than it did before." I mumbled.

Butchy's eyes widened a bit before he stood and pulled me up into his arms. "Stay awake for me, beautiful. I'm gonna get you downstairs, okay?"

I nodded a little as Butchy carried me out of the room and down the stairs. Butchy set be down on the kitchen island before taking a step toward the cabinet we keep my medicine in. Butchy took two of my pills out and gave me a cup of water. "Thank you." I mumbled before taking the medicine.

"Is it helping?" Butchy asked, holding my hands with his as he stared into my eyes.

"A little." I nodded, squeezing his hand as I thought for a moment. "Butchy, I... I think it was a... a memory. There's something there in my head. Something recent... I-I think I might have just remembered a little of what happened the day that I hit my head..."

"What? You remember something? You have a memory?" Butchy asked incredulously.

"I have a memory?" I asked as I thought over the events that I could see in my mind, "I have a memory! Butchy, you triggered a memory!" Butchy and I smiled at each other before I reached up and hugged him tight. "Let's go to Big Momma's and tell everybody!"

Butchy smiled and nodded. "Go get your jacket, I'll meet you outside."

I hopped off of the counter and ran up to Lela's room. I quickly grabbed my hair ties and tied my hair in a bun. I grabbed my bandana and my jacket before running back down the stairs and out to the front porch. Butchy was waiting on the bottom step when I got out there. I jumped over the steps and grabbed Butchy by the hand, pulling him to his feet.

"C'mon! Let's get going already!" I laughed, pulling Butchy down the beach behind me.

-DD-

Once we got to Big Momma's, I let go of Butchy and ran up onto the stage. "Everybody listen up!" I shouted. Everybody turned to me as the restaurant got quiet. "I remembered something!"

Everybody started clapping and cheering for me as Lela ran up onto the stage to hug me. "That's amazing! What do you remember?"

"I remember what happened the night I lost my memory! I remember what I did to lose it." I explained to everybody.

"Tell us, Mick!" Tanner exclaimed as everybody sat down and stared at me eagerly.

"Well..." I started, "The first thing that I remember is walking inside the house with Lela and CheeChee. After that, it's kinda fuzzy still, but I can remember!"

/Mick's memory - 1 Month Prior - 3rd PoV\

Mick's eyes were hazy as she stepped through the front door with Lela and Cheech on either side of her. She could make out certain objects as her vision blurred and cleared in an odd pattern that matched the symphony of emotions Mick felt. Mick stumbled a little as her friends attempted to get her onto the couch.

After a few minutes, Lela and CheeChee we're able to sit Mick on the couch without her falling over. "She's a lot heavier than she looks." Lela stated with a sigh.

"Wells, Lela, peoples are heavier when their sleepin'. Mick is barely awake right now." Cheech explained.

Lela made a look of understanding before moving to put her wrist to Mick's forehead. "She's burning, Cheech!"

The girls thought for a moment. "Do you's and Butchy still have those frozen broccoli packages from last week's shoppin' trip?" CheeChee questioned. Lela nodded as she took Cheech's hand and ran for the freezer.

Mick watched blearily as her friends left her alone in the living room. As soon as Mick's vision cleared again, she pulled herself to her feet, holding random objects and walls to make sure she didn't fall on her way to the door.

'I need Butchy.' Mick thought to herself, 'I need to get to him... I feel like I'm dying. Is this what it feels like? Aunt Jami would know, she died on the table for five minutes during Hudson's birth. No, Mick.' Mick chided herself. 'Focus on Butchy.'

Mick stumbled her way onto the front porch and slowly made her way down the steps. She looked both ways down the beach before turning to her left and heading toward Big Momma's. Mick stopped a couple times whenever her vision tunneled again before continuing.

Mick hadn't made it too far when she heard her name being called from behind her. She saw a motorcycle coming toward her with somebody Mick couldn't quite make out as the rider so she turned and waved, assuming it was a friend.

Mick staggered a couple steps backwards before she tripped over her own two feet and into a small shrub. A shrub that hid a rock in it's center.

The same rock that caused Mick's memories to slide their way down the drain.

/Present Time - Mick's Pov\

I saw Miles running toward the stage in the corner of my vision. He plowed into me and lifted me up. "Sis!" Miles called as he spun me around. "Even though I'm definitely not happy that your last memory is the one that caused this, I'm so proud of you's! How did you's get it?"

"Butchy helped me." I giggled. "After a month of nothing but one conversation and a whole lot of awkward staring, he finally talked to me! I guess I really wore him down."

Miles stopped spinning me around and set me on my feet again. "What? He didn' talk talk t' ye fer a whole month?"

I shrugged, "Yeah, but, I mean, under the circumstan-"

"Circumstance or not, ye don' just ignore th' people ye love." Miles claimed as he turned to glare at Butchy. "'Specially not when it's my Lil Sis."

Butchy glared back at Miles. "Yeahs, well, yer 'Lil Sis' wouldn' be in this condition if you's 'ad jus' kept yer mouth shut that night!"

I looked at Miles in confusion as he let go of me and started walking toward the edge of the stage. I quickly grabbed his arm and held him back as he tried to pull himself free. "Miles, no! It's okay!" I tried, hoping he would just calm down. "Whatever happened, it doesn't matter! I'm fine! Everything is okay!"

"No, it isn't!" Miles yelled back, flinging me off his arm as he yanked himself free. I fell back onto the floor of the stage as Miles' arm shoved me backwards. Thankfully, I landed in an almost seated position on the floor, my head nowhere near the floor or anything else.

Everything was quiet. Nobody made a sound. Nobody spoke. Nobody dared to move as Miles and I stared in shock at each other. Miles, in the month I had gotten to know him all over again, had never raised his voice at anybody, let alone me, the person he considered a little sister. My eyes fell from Miles' and onto the floor as I pushed myself to my feet. By the time my eyes returned to Miles, his shoulders had started shaking.

"It happened again..." Miles whispered to himself. I slowly walked over and put my hand on his arm, watching as his head snapped up and his startled gaze met my worried one.

"Miles... Miles, what's going on?" I asked, attempting to put my arms around the only slightly older biker. Miles shook his head before moving out of my arms and running toward the front door. "Miles!" I called to the swinging doors as Miles left the restaurant.

I stared at the door as it swung back and forth. My body was frozen in place until Lela came up behind me and put her hands on my arm. "Mick, are you alright?"

I nodded as I took a deep breath. "Yeah, I think so. Butchy," I started as the entire room and I turned to the brunette Rodent leader. "what did you mean by all that? The whole, 'Your sister wouldn't be like this if you had just kept your mouth shut that night' thing. What were you talking about?"

"Th' night you's lost yer memory..." Butchy sighed, "Miles was th' biker 'at you's saw... He is the reason you's lost th' last two years of yer memories."

I nodded slowly as I processed this new information. "Well, at least he's not scared to ride his motorcycle like some bikers that I know."

Butchy looked at me curiously. "What do you's means by that?"

"I overheard you talking with the other guys about postponing some giant race against this big rival gang called The Sparx." I shrugged with a confident smirk on my face as everybody turned back to me. "You claim that it's because you want me to remember you first, however, if I remember correctly, the last conversation we had, I remembered how important you were to me."

"So?!" Butchy exclaimed in disbelief. "Jus' because you's remembers some small moment in time, doesn't mean you's really remember me at all! An' jus' because I's postponed the race, doesn' make me scared to ride."

"Really?" I asked. "If that's the case, call up their leader, Xander, I think, and tell him that you're free to race tonight."

"Fine! I will!" Butchy hollered.

"Fine!" I grinned. "I'm glad!"

"Good!" Butchy exclaimed.

"Great!" I smiled before walking off the stage and out the door to find Miles.

I heard Lela yelling at Butchy as I walked out the door. I might have stopped her from hitting him before, but, this time (if I actually did stop her before), I didn't even look back. He needs to get out of whatever it is that he's in and, frankly, I'm glad I pushed him the way I did. At that point, I didn't care if what he said about Miles causing my memory loss was true or not, I just needed to get it out of my system.

-DD-

I walked down the beach toward Miles' house, calling his name louder and louder with each step I took. As I reached Miles' front steps, I decided to just intrude. I walked up to the door and reached for the key that he had put on the top of the door frame.

"I'll save you's the hassle of tryin' to be tall, Sis. I'm on the swing." I turned toward the soft voice and saw the biker I was searching for, laying down on the porch swing that we usually talked on.

"Miles... What happened back there?" I asked softly as I walked over to him. "First of all, move over."

Miles sat up with a sigh before gesturing for me to sit. I took my spot next to Miles as he started talking. "I'm guessin' you've already asked Butchy about what 'appened?"

I nodded slowly as I played with the initial on my bracelet. "Yeah, Miles. Even if I hadn't, I wanna know what happened to you back there. You were acting so... so unlike yourself. It scared me a bit."

Miles put his elbows on his knees before holding his head in his glove covered hands. "I'm so sorry, Mick... Add that t' th' list o' things I've done t' you's in the last month."

I put a hand on his back and rubbed circles on the leather that covered him. "I don't call you my Big Brother for nothing."

"What do you's mean?" Miles mumbled without looking up from the wooden boards of his front porch.

"So what if we fight, hurt each other or tease each other?" I asked rhetorically. "That's what siblings do! I may have lost my memory of you, but I can tell that you really care about me. You messed up, but, guess what."

"What?" Miles asked softly as he sat up again and stared at me.

"So does every other human being on this planet!" I exclaimed. "I don't put my memory loss as a hit against you. You made great memories with me during this month, right?"

"Yeahs, I have." Miles grinned.

"That's all that matters to me right now, Miles. You are my Big Brother. I could beat you up and you would still tease me about how weak my left hook is for a couple months." I giggled as Miles laughed.

Miles took my hand with a bright smile. "I love you, Sis."

I rested my head on Miles' shoulder with a smile. "I love you too, Bro."

"Yer hook is super weak though." Miles stated.

I faked a surprised gasp. "And after I yelled at Butchy for you!"

"You did what?!"

"That's right!" I said confidently. "I also got him to stop postponing that race against Xander."

"Seriously?! And I missed it?!" Miles whined.

"You were too busy running away like a little sissy. We have to get to Valley Pier before they start racing or we'll miss everything."

"I'll tickle you's fer that later." Miles grinned as we got up off the swing.

"Tell you what, I'll call a temporary truce." I untied the bandana from around my head and held it up for Miles to see. "Bandana for a ride to the race so I don't have to ride with Butchy?"

Miles thought for a moment before nodding. "Fine. Yer temporary truce 'as been accepted."

I tied my bandana around Miles' wrist before putting my arm around his and pulling him toward his motorcycle. Miles put his arm in front of me to stop me from getting on. "Safety first." He stated simply before pulling my hair ties out of their bun formation and securing his helmet over my now loose and ruffled hair.

-DD-

When we got to Valley Pier, Miles made sure to park far away from Butchy's motorcycle, yet still close enough to the main event that way, if necessary, we could make a run for it. Miles stayed next to me and pulled me behind him a bit more every time we walked by a sketchy person or a person from The Sparx. I smiled and waved at Lela, Giggles, CheeChee and Struts as we walked by them and up to Butchy.

"Look, Butchy, I don't care if you's gets mad at me fer this, but, here." Miles claimed as he pulled me in front of him. "I would stay with you's, Sis, but I's gots to go talk to Lugnut fer a minute."

"'Kay." I smiled before turning to Butchy. "You actually lived up to it, huh?"

Butchy nodded. "Yeah. Look, Mick, I really want to apologize before I have to go race."

"It's okay, Butchy." I smiled gently as I got up on my tip toes and kissed his cheek. "I may not remember much about you, but I love you. Go win for me."

"Absolutely." Butchy smiled before pulling me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around Butchy as tightly as possible as the announcer's voice chimed in over the car radio speaker next to us.

"Racers to the starting line! The race between The Rodents and The Sparx starts in five!"

Butchy and I smiled at each other one last time as he walked over to his bike. The other four girls came over and brought me over to the start line. I watched as Butchy pulled his Harley up to the line and stopped next to Xander's black and green bike. Giggles brought me over to the middle of the line and handed me a small, bright green towel.

After Gigs left the line, I waited for the countdown and the rules to finish before dropping the towel. As the bikes zoomed by, I breathed in the rush of wind and exhaust fumes as it hit me. I rushed over to Miles and Lugnut as they were getting ready to head to the finish line.

"Take me with you, please." I commanded gently.

"As you command, M'Lady." Miles teased.

We got to the end line quicker than everybody else as Miles had taken a shortcut. We had an almost full vantage point of the track and we watched as Butchy and Xander raced around corners and zipped through some S-curves. I watched with bated breath as they flew through another curve.

I cheered like crazy as Butchy stole the lead from Xander, racing by him at speeds that would have a cheetah panting for breath. I continued to root for Butchy as Miles, Lugnut and I watched them getting closer to the finishing line.

As the two leaders pulled out of a rotary at almost neck and neck tie again, Xander bashed into Butchy's back tire, sending him and his bike into a nearby tree. I watched in horror as Butchy slumped down against the tree while his bike fell over the guardrail and into the ocean below.

I let out a scream as I ran toward Butchy. Neither Miles nor Lugnut tried to hold me back as I got down next to Butchy and cried. "Butchy, NO!" I screamed.

Butchy wasn't moving, but everything around me seemed to be. I cried as I put my head to Butchy's chest, listening for some kind of beat to let me know he was still with me. I felt my vision start hollowing out as I screamed into the late night air.

"BUTCHY!" 


	10. Tunnel Vision Part 3

The incessant beeping of hospital heart monitors was the last thing that I wanted to hear as Miles and Lugnut guided me inside the main lobby of Baystate Mary-Lane United Hospital, yet, at the same time, it made me relax a little at the knowledge that nobody was dying. It took us an hour to get here from Valley Pier since I had needed to change out of my dirty, bloody clothes. This is the hospital that the ambulance brought Butchy to. I wasn't allowed to be in the medical emergency vehicle with Butchy, but the people that took him had a very good reason for that.

When the emergency crew had arrived at Valley Pier, I yelled up one side of them and down the other as they had tried to pull me away from my husband. I thoroughly reamed the youngest and newest member of ambulance personnel as he had been the one to try holding me back the most. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't like to cuss or swear as much as Lela doesn't, however I let out so many streams of cusses and swears that I'm pretty sure I would've made a sailor blush.

Apparently, I had gotten so bad that I needed Miles, Lugnut and Skids to hold me back. I still can't believe I fought them so badly. I had kicked and screamed and cried until I watched the ambulance crew put Butchy in the back of the ambulance and drive away. After screaming so much that my lungs burned, I just collapsed. I couldn't fight anymore. The adrenaline rush had worn off just as quickly as it had arrived and, in it's place, fear charged my actions and drained all the energy from my body. My whole body felt numb and weak when my knees hit the pavement that the two bikers had been racing on.

Miles had held me in his arms for a long time, attempting to calm me down and help me forget what I had witnessed. But that's exactly what couldn't happen... I couldn't forget...

Not when I suddenly remembered everything that I had forgotten.

When my vision had turned blurry and black, my memories had come flooding back to me as if a water had broken inside my brain. I could remember everything that I had forgotten when I hit my head in that rock. Butchy getting hurt had triggered everything. Even the smallest injury on his body had triggered something.

I had seen blood coming from a scratch on the back of his head and that had easily led to my memory of him trying to take care of my bloody arm when I had scratched it on a piece of stray metal while we were building the mechanism for the machine the first time around. When his eyes didn't open after I called his name, it reminded me of how peaceful he always looked when he was sleeping. Every detail of him during and after the crash had done something to my brain.

I had held Butchy as tightly as possible when I had reached him. At the time, I was so terrified and heartbroken that I couldn't hear any steady heartbeat that came from his chest. My ears had been ringing to the point that I couldn't hear anything else. All I could see was red. It wasn't just the blood that slowly slid it's way onto my fingers when I held Butchy's head in my hands; nor was it the color of his shirt that I had seen so many times, yet never truly appreciated.

Xander had tried talking to me, but I wasn't having any of it. He wasn't trying to ask me if Butchy was okay, he was seeing if I was ready to go to The Sparx Headquarters with him! After hearing that, my left hook was way sharper than it had ever been before. I had punched, kicked and screamed at Xander so much that nobody dared to come near me let alone try to hold me back from trying to kill the self absorbed jerk. I wasn't satisfied until I was able to knock him unconscious with a swift kick to the face that Butchy had taught me to do.

Now that I could remember everything, even the events that took place during the month that I had spent without any memory of my life in Wet Side Story, I felt horrible. If my stupid temper had just stayed on the back burner, I wouldn't have made Butchy race. He wouldn't have crashed and wouldn't be in this exceedingly white hospital.

Lugnut went up to the desk to ask where Butchy was while Miles stayed with me and tried to keep himself as strong as he could for my sake. "How you feelin', Baby Sis?"

I shook my head as I leaned my head on his shoulder and wrapped my arms around him. I took a shaky breath, "Like I'm gonna throw up... I'm so scared... Miles, I caused this!"

"No, you's didn't." Miles quickly countered, pulling me tightly to his chest.

"I dared him to race. If I hadn't done that, Butchy would be right next to me, uninjured and completely safe!" I cried into Miles' jacket.

"Butchy is fine, Mick." Lugnut claimed as he came back from the desk and put a hand on my back. "Th' lady at th' desk says that he jus' got out o' surgery and recovery. He's back in 'is room. He isn' awake yet, but we's can go visit 'I'm if ya want?"

I nodded a little before lifting my head up and off of Miles' shoulder and wiping my eyes. "What floor is he on?"

"Third floor, room number 413." Lugnut recited from the piece of paper he had been given. I sighed before taking Miles' hand again as he and Lugnut walked me over to the elevator.

I stared at the reflective surface of the metal of the elevator walls as it slowly lifted us up to the third floor. I barely paid any attention to anything outside of the numbers on the walls next to the room doors as we walked down a seemingly endless hallway. The numbers seemed to be counting down as it slowly went from 499 to 450. I stared at the number on the last door in confusion before turning to Lugnut.

"Are you sure this is the right floor?" I asked as I looked for any doctor or nurse that could possibly point us in the right direction.

"That's what the lady said." Lugnut shrugged.

I noticed a man in a bright white lab coat standing next to the nurse's station and started running over to him. "Excuse me, sir, do you work here?"

The man turned to me with a smile. "I do, Miss. Why? What's the matter?"

I smiled softly. "My fiancé is on this floor in room four thirteen, but the numbers on the walls only go to four fifty."

The man chuckled. "Well, if you are here for Biagio, he is right over there."

"Um...Biagio? No. I'm here for Butchy, my fiancé." I claimed as I stared up at the man.

The doctor laughed once again. "I know that's who you are talking about. Biagio is my Butchy's real name. I'm his Uncle, Antonio. We called him Butchy every since he decided that it would be his nickname. Here, come see for yourself, little lady."

Antonio led me across the small hallway in front of the nurse's station and over to room 413. I looked into the room and saw the brown mop of hair on the pillow. I stepped inside the room and looked inside the closet next to the window. Hanging from a couple hangers was Butchy's red shirt and leather jacket and, on the shelf inside the closet, was his jeans, shoes and a small chain bracelet with my first initial carved into the surface.

"I take it he hasn't told you about his real name?" Uncle Antonio asked from behind me as I glanced between the bracelet and Butchy's form on the hospital bed.

I shook my head as I walked over to Butchy, sliding the bracelet onto my wrist next to the one I wore with his initial printed on it. "No, he hasn't. Would you please tell me?"

"Look for yourself. His name and all his information is on the clipboard at the end of his bed."

I bent down and unhooked the clipboard, reading the information out loud. "Biagio Maccio Bandoni... That sounds nothing like 'Butchy' at all. Why did he pick that as his nickname?"

Antonio shrugged, "Not so sure, but it was his idea when he was almost twelve. Thought he could be independent so, he ditched his real name and kept it short at Butchy."

"I like the name Biagio. It sounds very... Italian if you don't mind me saying." I claimed.

Antonio put a hand on my shoulder. "No, of course I don't mind! You're exactly right, Butchy and Lela are purebred Italians, just like most of the family. Anyway, you're the bride to be, eh? Your name is Makana, correct?"

I nodded as I sat in the chair next to Butchy's bed. "Yeah, I am, but, please, call me Mick. You're his Uncle and his doctor, huh?"

"I sure am." Antonio smiled. "I heard you gave my emergency dispatch a run for their money at Valley Pier?"

My face burned as I switched my gaze from Antonio to the heart monitor. "I guess so. I fought like crazy. I just wanted to be with him and make sure he was alright."

Antonio bent down next to me and took my hand. "You were the one that tried to keep his body elevated to stop the bleeding that came from his left shoulder, correct?"

"Mhmm. I remembered that from my health class in school. Elevate and apply pressure."

"You saved his life." Antonio explained. "He did have a helmet on and for that I am grateful, however, if you had not taken the time to think things through, he would've lost a lot of blood. That gash in his shoulder could've killed him if you had not been there to take care of him like that. It was extremely close to many major arteries."

My eyes watered as I turned to Butchy. "That could have killed him? Oh my gosh...His last- His last memory of me would've either been the fight we had or the kiss I gave him before the race."

Antonio looked between Butchy and I before turning to me. "He woke up for a brief moment before the surgery on his shoulder. He said something along the lines of, 'my queen remembers'. Do you know anything about what that could mean?"

My head whipped to Antonio. "He heard me?" I asked, to which Antonio nodded. "I had hit my head on a rock a month ago and lost my memory of everybody outside of my friends and family back home. When I saw him get thrown off his bike, my memories came back and I told him that when he wasn't responding to me."

/Back at the race - 3rd PoV\

Mick leaned Butchy's head on to her chest as she pushed on the gash that seemed to dent her future husband's arm. "Babe, I know you can hear me. I could hear you when I was unconscious, so I know that you can hear me. You aren't dead, not yet, anyway. I swear, if you die on me, I will find a way to bring you back just so I can kill you myself for doing this to me!"

When Butchy didn't respond, Mick choked on her tears again. "I remember everything. I remember our first kiss. I remember our first date. I remember the day you proposed to me. I remember you. I love you so much. Please, don't leave me, Butchy. I need you."

/In the hospital room - Mick's PoV\

I took Butchy's hand in mine, "To be completely honest, I was terrified. I thought that he would just wake up because nothing seems to be that bad around here. Nothing this bad has ever happened."

"Yes, but, with Biagio, he never changes. Always loving the thrill of riding and and the exhilaration of the adventure." Butchy's Uncle shook his head.

"Butchy is like Peter Pan in his own way, right?" Miles asked as he came to stand behind me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Butchy always has had to feel the rush, the race of his heartbeat, or the speed." Doctor Antonio started.

"'E 'as a passion for things 'e knows could hurt 'im, but 'e never stays long enough t' get hurt." Lugnut explained.

Miles nodded, "'E says 'e never gets 'at feelin' wit' you's, 'at 'e knows you'd never hurt 'I'm. But 'e does say 'at 'e can always get that rush when 'e finds 'imself lost on the road. Butch just doesn't want you's t' get hurt in th' crossfire, though. 'At's why 'e tries t' keep you's from any racin' 'r any fights 'at 'e has."

"Oh..." I mumbled, staring at Butchy as he lay motionless on the uncomfortable looking hospital bed.

"It's gettin' late, sis. Ya wanna come get dinner at th' cafeteria?" Miles asked as Antonio and Lugnut moved toward the door.

I shook my head a little, "After today's excitement, I don't feel so well."

Miles leaned down and held my shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"I feel sick to my stomach, but it's probably just nerves." I sighed, "As much as I want to take my mind off of everything and talk with you guys, I don't wanna risk putting food in and having it come right back up. Besides, Lela and the others will be here soon, somebody should stay here to make sure everything is okay."

Miles nodded a bit before giving me a hug and pressing a light kiss to my hair. "Take it easy, Baby Sis. We don't want you to end up being in here too. I love you."

"I love you too, Miles. Have some pizza for me, okay?" I asked as Miles stood up again.

Miles nodded before turning and heading out of the room with Lugnut. Antonio stopped in the doorway of the room and turned to me. "If you have any questions or things you need, let me or one of the nurses know."

"I have one question." I started, "I was wondering if I could, by any chance, lay down next to him and listen to his heartbeat?" I felt my eyes start to burn as salty tears stung their way to the surface. "It's just, whenever Butchy is nervous or worried or wants to just make sure that I'm alive and well, he listens to my heart and he says it always calms him down and helps him to remember that I'm always there for him."

"If it helps you to find peace in knowing that my nephew is alive and well, by all means, go ahead. I don't need an explanation." Antonio shook his head lightly as he approached me. "By extension, you are my family as much as Butchy is. I will see if we can borrow an empty bed for you to stay on if that would make you feel any more at ease?"

"Really?" I asked in disbelief, "I can stay the night?"

"You could stay every night until he gets well enough to leave, if you like. So, about that bed?" Uncle Antonio asked with a smile as he ruffled my hair a little bit.

"Yes, please. Thank you so, so much." I smiled as I gave the bigger man a hug. "I have no idea how to thank you any more than that."

"All that I need is the reassurance that my nephew really did find his one true queen." Butchy's Uncle stated.

I lifted my left hand and showed him my ring. "I believe he has."

"Good. I'll be expecting an invitation?"

"Oh, absolutely!" I smiled as Uncle Antonio turned to take his leave.

"I'll talk with Butchy's nurse for the night, Gloria, about that bed, alright?" Uncle asked.

"Alright." I nodded. "Thank you so much."

"Of course mia nipote." Uncle Antonio replied in partial Italian before leaving for the cafeteria.

I stood up from my seat and walked over to the window. I sat down on the thick sil of the window as I looked out at the stars that shone brightly in the sky. Some of them were almost electrically bright like when an airplane passes by in the middle of the night while others were mostly invisible to me because of the light from the hallway that was directly across from the giant window pane. I turned to look at Butchy for a moment as I thought over my previous conversation with Lugnut, Miles and Uncle Antonio.

{Mick}

The smile, the charm, the words, the spark, everything, you have it. I knew I had a naive heart, but, boy, I let you have it. You say that I am your only, I never thought you'd do this to me...

You're just a lost boy, with your head up in the clouds. You're just a lost boy, never keep your feet on the ground...

You're always gonna fly away, just because you know you can. You're never gonna learn there's no such place as Neverland. You don't understand. You'll never grow up, you're never gonna be a man...

Peter Pan.

Deep down, I know that you are too good to be true, but every piece and part of me wants me to believe in you. It seemed like happily ever never. I guess now I know better.

You're just a lost boy, with your head up in the clouds. You're just a lost boy, never keep your feet on the ground...

You're always gonna fly away, just because you know you can. You're never gonna learn there's no such place as Neverland. You don't understand. You'll never grow up, you're never gonna be a man...

Peter Pan.

You were just a lost boy, yeah, I knew that you were. You forgot what you lost, boy, you were too busy chasing stars.

And you're always gonna fly away, just because you know you can. You're never gonna learn there's no such place as Neverland. You don't understand.

You'll never grow up...

You're never gonna be a man...

You're never gonna grow up. Yeah, you're never gonna be a man,

...Peter Pan.

{Song End}

I swung my legs over the edge of the thick ledge of the window as I watched Butchy. I got up from my perch on the windowsill and moved over to the right side of Butchy's bed, sitting in the small space around Butchy that the bed provided. I shifted around the rail thing and rested my head on Butchy's chest.

"I love you, Biagio." I whispered. "While you are unconscious like this, I'm gonna call you by your real name. I could really get used to saying Biagio instead of Butchy." I smiled, putting my arm over Butchy's waist as lightly as I could. "Or, maybe, I can call you Biagio when we're alone and Butchy when we're around everybody else. It would be kind of like how you use your accent. That would be sweet, don't you think?"

I waited for a response before remembering that he wouldn't answer me. I sighed, squeezing my eyes shut as tightly as possible. "Babe, if this is how you felt the entire time I had memory loss, I'm very sorry. I forgot for a second that you couldn't answer me and, just that alone, made me feel so mean and stupid. I'm sorry I put you through torture like this for a whole month."

I took a deep breath. "I may not sound it around the guys or the girls, but I'm scared, Babe. I don't want to cry in front of them. If I cry in front of the guys, I just know that they'll get super protective and try to get me away from you for a bit. If I cry in front of the girls, Lela will start crying and then it'll seem like we've both just given up hope. I have to be the strong one and the leader while you're down and out for the count. I can't let them see me cry because, well, they never really see you cry so they might think I'm a bad leader because I'm showing my weakness. My weakness is you, by the way. Did you ever let them see you cry before, even if it was just a brief second? I know that some people consider it to be a weakness, but I'm not sure if I believe it fully or not."

I laid there quietly for a while, listening to his heart and the steady pulse it gave. I was pretty sure that Butchy could hear me, but, with the way he was totally unresponsive, I couldn't be sure. I was putting full trust in the Lord at that moment. I knew that He would help Butchy, no matter the amount of time it took for him to wake up. I sat up a little to look at Butchy's face, reaching my right hand up to his left cheek, careful of the bandages and wraps that tied around his injured shoulder and the oxygen filled cannula that sat in his nose. I lightly pressed a kiss to Butchy's lips as I took his right hand in my left.

"I will always love you, my Handsome King. I'm going to see if the food tray carts are still in the hallway; I saw a can of unopened whip cream sitting on the one across the hall. Might as well steal it while I can. I'll be right back, alright?" I asked as I slowly got up from the bed.

I brought Butchy's hand to my face before gently putting it back down on the bed. I gave him one last squeeze before turning to leave. My hand was pulled back as I attempted to let Butchy's hand slip free from mine. I let my grip go as I lifted my hand up off of the bed for a moment. Butchy's hand latched onto mine as I wiggled it around a bit. I let out a gasp before breaking out into a huge smile.

"I'll only be gone for a second, Babe, I promise." I tried to pull my hand free, but Butchy was having none of it. "How about we make a deal, Biagio? You let go so I can get that whipped cream and, when I get back, I'll sneak you some whip cream even though you're probably not supposed to have it. It will be like that time we snuck into Big Momma's and ate all the ice cream! Does that sound like a plan?"

Butchy's hand slowly slid off of mine as his grip slackened and his hand dropped back down onto the white sheets. I smiled before running out of the room and over to one of the dinner carts, grabbing a can of the white, fluffy cream and running back in to the room before the nurses could question me. I giggled as I popped open the lid and sprayed a little of the whip cream onto my finger. I ate the whip cream off my finger before sitting next to Butchy.

"Ba~be!" I sang, "I have some of the white, fluffy goodness that we both adore. If you want some, you need to wake up. Deal?"

/With Lela - 3rd PoV\

To Lela, everything was a blur. It was that simple. Nobody wanted to talk with her in fear that she might break down because of her brother. She had been initially mad at Mick for telling her brother to race, but Lela quickly erased the thought. To be honest, Lela had been wanting to watch the race as well and, even though she had been the one to command her brother to race, Lela didn't blame her best friend for wanting to escape the reality of her memory loss.

Though the race had ended the way it did, everybody, especially Lela, had been surprised when Juliet's Father and Butchy's boss, Mr. Harmon, had been there to offer his apologies and sincere support of Lela and the entire group that had been there. He had also been one of the few people that had talked to Mick before she had left with Lugnut and Miles for the hospital. Mr. Harmon had seen the race and had been cheering for his employee along with the Biker croud. He had told Lela that Butchy had been working with him on an acceleration addition for his bike and had been prepared to use it during the race.

If Xander hadn't hit Butchy's bike, Butchy would have won... No questions asked.

Lela sighed to herself as she entered the hospital with the rest of the Rodent gang. To Lela, being Brother and Sister means being there for each other no matter what and, in all the rights she had as Butchy's younger Sister, she was ready to do anything for him to get better.

Anything. 


	11. Two Can Keep A Secret

_**Holy guacamole! I haz returned. I've been exploring different fandoms I used to be in or still am a part of (Transformers and Undertale, mostly) and I finally found a break to write this. The words in italics and bold, for those who don't know, is my sister Honey's favorite TV show theme (It's from Pretty Little Liars). The end conversation is part of the lyrics, but I thought it was oddly fitting of the ending.**_

 _ **Anyway, Enjoy! (By the way, bloopers will be happening again soon when the chapters start lightening into fluffy clouds of cotton candy again.)**_

* * *

Four days. That's how long it has been since the race. Technically, it would be five days if you count the three hours that have gone by since the clock struck midnight. Butchy hasn't woken up yet, but he can hear us. Every time I ask him a yes or no kind of question, he squeezes my hand once or twice (respectively) in response. Once, I got up to go use the bathroom without telling where I was going and, when I came back, he wouldn't let go of me. Ever since then, I have had to tell him where I was going and, if I don't, he refuses to let my hand go until I do. He always has been protective of me.

I had to explain my double world life to Uncle Antonio on the second day of my stay, but he was very supportive of my decisions. He claimed that family is the most important thing in life and that, no matter what, I would always be welcome to stay with him and his family. I really appreciate him and his family. Uncle Tony (as he prefers to be called by his close family) and his wife, Aunt Francesca, have eight children whom I've already met and three more that I have yet to meet because they're in Italy with some relatives.

In order of age it would go: Gideon, Daniella, and Eleanora, the triplets whom I've yet to meet, at seventeen, Roberto at fifteen, Sofia and Stephania at fourteen, Antonella at eleven, Bernadette at almost nine, Ilaria at six, Trevor at five, and little Valentina at three. They certainly keep busy, don't they?

The youngest of the eleven kids, Valentina, loves to climb up on my bed and snuggle when she's tired and even tries to read the hospital menu to me. Last night, before she left to go home and sleep, Valie picked up the menu, pointed at the word 'zucchini' and claimed that it said zebra. She told me to not eat it because "they pretty, Autie Mickie". Valentina had quickly taken to calling me "Autie" when she found that I was going to be married to Butchy soon. She can't figure out how to say "Auntie" instead of "Autie", but I think it's absolutely adorable.

Valie is the black haired version of a Barbie doll and she knows it too, claiming that she already has a boyfriend, but she doesn't want to date him anymore because he took her block at playtime. Between her and the twins, I have a feeling that Uncle Antonio is going to be beating off boys with a twenty foot long pole.

Speaking of the fraternal twins, Sofia and Stephania have kept me highly entertained after school hours. Stephania is blonde and is a very socially dramatic dance queen, so she keeps me up to date with all the drama that comes from her dance practices and recitals. Sofia, on the other hand, is brunette and a rather shy artist, so she attempts to help me sketch out things that I find interesting in and around the hospital. Steph has insisted on teaching me the steps to one of her most popular numbers even though Sofia is pretty insistent on the fact that I should be less stressed, not more so. Sofia thinks that dancing is stressful and Stephania thinks art is boring. It makes me kind of glad that I never had a sister or a twin.

If I'm completely honest, I was hoping Butchy was asleep when Roberto was introduced to me. I really didn't want him to get mad at his young "nephew". The persistent fifteen year old attempted to flirt with me the instant he entered the room. He started out really smooth, but my response really crashed that train of thought.

/Mick's Memory - Two Days Earlier\

"Hello. My name is Robbie, and yours?" Roberto tried as he took my hand the same way Butchy usually does.

I held up my left hand that was tightly laced with Butchy's. "Your Aunt Mick. Nice to meet you, Robbie. Smooth entry, by the way. Did Butchy teach you?"

The twins giggled at their older sibling's defeat as he made a face of shock and quickly moved away. "Uncle Butch isn't awake, is he?"

"Not sure, but, for your sake, I hope he is." I shrugged. However, Robbie's question had been answered very quickly when Butchy's hand tightened on my fingers considerably more than when he answered my regular yes/no questions.

/Present\

Butchy was asleep next to me as it was only three in the morning. His oxygen cannula had been taken out yesterday, but I still was advised to not try waking him up or getting him too worked up over anything as it could wind up with him needing the cannula and the morphine all over again. I was frustrated over the fact that I couldn't wake him up to receive a spontaneous, yet always passionate, kiss or anything, but this is my revenge.

"Revenge for what?" I guess is what you'd be asking. Well, it was my fault that I lost my memory, it was my fault that Butchy felt depressed and hurt because of my memory loss, it was my fault that Butchy got into an accident, it's my fault for everything that's happened in the last month. This is the universe's way of saying, "Haha, screw you, Mick. You are a jerk to society and yourself. Here, this is your punishment."

I sighed deeply as I fell back onto my bed, my left hand still latched onto Butchy's. I leaned over onto his bed and put my head over his chest. "Babe, please wake up. I don't know if I can keep up this whole 'I'm fine' bit for much longer. I know this is my punishment for doing this to you for a month, but I want you back more than anything right now. I really want to go home and cuddle with you and just be us again. I love you so much, Biagio. Please, come back to me."

I sat up a bit and wiped the sleep from my eyes before bending down and pressing a light kiss on Butchy's cheek. "I'm going to go take a shower, My King. If we were at home right now, I would tease you by asking if you wanted to come join me and we would end up just sitting in the tub and talking for hours, but we aren't at home, this place doesn't have any tubs, and you can't get your bandages wet because it could infect the area they did surgery on." I pulled my hand from Butchy's as he let it slide from his grip.

I grabbed my bag from the floor next to my bed and headed for the adjoining bathroom. I turned back, taking one more glance at my husband to be before going inside the bathroom and closing the heavy door, sliding the lock into place.

/Butchy's PoV\

I woke up to the sound of Mick sighing and flopping back into bed. As much as I wanted to pull her to me and tell her that everything would be alright, my body was still terrifyingly weak from surgery and the only thing I could do at the moment was squeeze her hand. I couldn't even open my eyes to look at the absolutely gorgeous girl that had stayed by my side every day and every night for not only the last four days. However, as much as I wanted to hold her close and reassure her of everything, I also wanted to hear what was bugging My Queen so badly.

Mick's ear pressed against my chest as she listened for my heartbeat, her free arm draping it's way over my waist. "Babe, please wake up. I don't know if I can keep up this whole 'I'm fine' bit for much longer. I know this is my punishment for doing this to you for a month, but I want you back more than anything right now. I really want to go home and cuddle with you and just be us again. I love you so much, Biagio. Please, come back to me."

I thought over her words as Mick quieted again. She doesn't need to fake being strong for everybody, she's strong everyday, even when she doesn't realize it. I don't know what she's talking about with the whole "punishment" thing, but she needs to get that thought out of her head. She put me through a lot, yes, but it wasn't entirely her fault. I'm just as much to blame for staying away from her for so long. I wish we could go home and forget all of this...

You know, I usually hate it when somebody calls me by my first name, but, with Mick, I could really get used to it! She makes it sound so... brilliant and unique, like it flows off of her tongue like that honey stuff Mick likes in her tea and her milk when she doesn't feel well.

I heard the bed do that horrible creaking noise again as Mick sat up. Mick kissed my cheek, the closest she could get to my lips before she squeezed my hand a little. "I'm going to go take a shower, My King." I smiled in my head at my nickname. "If we were at home right now, I would tease you by asking if you wanted to come join me and we would end up just sitting in the tub and talking for hours, but we aren't at home, this place doesn't have any tubs, and you can't get your bandages wet because it could infect the area they did surgery on."

On any other day, I would have held her close and waited until she had forgotten about wanting a shower to let her go, but I wasn't in any real position to argue. I let my hand slide free from hers as she got up from the bed. I heard her moving around for a while before the bathroom door slid shut and locked.

I heard the door open again, but, this time, it wasn't Mick. "How's my favorite nephew doing today?" Uncle Antonio asked. I'm your only nephew, Uncle Tony, of course I'm your favorite. "I'm guessing you're pretty ticked off right now because your beautiful Queen has left you all alone. However, I'm here now and, even though I'm not as beautiful and sweet as she is, you will have to put up with me for a while. I have to check your blood to make sure that there is no infection left over from the surgery."

If I had the strength to do so, I would've shivered and moved as far across the bed as possible. I hate needles and blood and everything to do with the medical practice. Uncle Tony knows this and likes to tease me about it every chance he gets. Well, at least Mick is in the bathroom and can't see this. If she did, I wouldn't be able to look at her for the rest of the time I'm in here. She'd be the first one to join Uncle Antonio in his teasing.

Of course, with my luck being the jerk it has been for the last couple days, I just had to think that. No longer than a couple seconds went by after I had thought that and, just my luck, Mick opened the bathroom door and came back inside the room. It had been too soon for her to have taken a shower so I guessed she had either forgotten something or had heard Uncle Tony and had decided to take it later.

"Oh, hi, Uncle Tony. How are you this morning?" My Queen asked as her voice got closer.

"I am wonderful, mia nipote. How are you?" Uncle Antonio asked as I heard Mick sigh.

"I'm as well as I can be." Mick sat down on my left side as she talked with my Uncle. "I'm more worried about Butchy than I am about myself. Is that a normal thing?"

"Of course." Uncle replied. "You two must have a great connection. I have never seen any lovers stay this long when one is in the hospital. And that includes myself when my Frankie was in here after the birth of our little Val. Most, if not all, have at least gone home to sleep, but you have stayed the entire time and have hardly left his side."

"Yeah, well, he has a hard time sleeping when I'm not with him." Mick carefully took my bandaged left hand in hers and leaned down, pressing my hand to her face. "I don't want him to go through those nightmares again."

"Nightmares?" Uncle Tony asked. Ugh...Mick! You had to give him more teasing material, huh?

Mick nodded against my hand. "He told me once before that, even when it's just me getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, his dreams turn to nightmares and it's always the same one."

"Really?" Uncle Antonio questioned, "Did he tell you what the nightmare was about?"

"Me leaving him. He is afraid that I'll find something about him that I won't like and that I'll leave him forever. He turns that thought into a nightmare and he doesn't like to let me leave his side. I don't really like to leave his side anyway, but he still tries to keep me nearby at all times."

I squeezed Mick's hand to let her know that I was awake. Mick lightly kissed the tip of my fingers in response as they were the only part of my left hand that wasn't in a bandage. I nudged my thumb against her lips before rubbing a little circle around her mouth.

"Butchy's awake." Mick mumbled against my hand before she leaned down and kissed my cheek. "Good morning, My King. So, Uncle Antonio, how is Bucthy, by the way?"

"Actually, I was just about to draw blood when you came in. I wasn't sure if you wanted to be here for it or not." Uncle Antonio claimed. "It's nothing major, I need to make sure there's no infections or anything. However, what I'm more concerned about is how much blood he has in him. He lost a lot at that race and I have a feeling he may need another transfusion."

"Another transfusion? He had a first transfusion?" Mick questioned as she sat up, shifting my hand away from her face, yet still gripping it tightly.

"During the surgery, yes." I heard Uncle Antonio reply as some papers shifted around. "Oh, no. I can see the wheels turning in your brain. What are you thinking, Mick?"

I heard nothing for a moment before Mick spoke again. "What blood type does Butchy have?"

Uncle Tony sighed, "Type A. I have a feeling I already know the answer to this, but, might I ask why?"

"I'm a match for him. I have Type O positive. I can donate to anybody with any type of blood and it will work. I'm over the age of eighteen, Uncle Tony. Let me donate some of my blood to Butchy." Mick explained.

I tightened my grip on Mick's hand again to stop her. Mick's free hand ran through my hair before settling on my cheek. Mick leaned down next to my ear and whispered to me softly. "Babe, you put up with a month of torture for me when I lost my memory. Let me at least do this for you. Besides, if the roles were switched and I was the one in your position, wouldn't you try to donate for me?"

"Mick, if it's against Butchy's will for you to donate blood for him, I can't-"

"Uncle Antonio, please. If it was Aunt Francesca in Butchy's spot and you were in mine, wouldn't you do the same thing?" I heard Mick ask.

Uncle Antonio took a deep breath. He and I had come to the same conclusion: we couldn't stop Mick. We knew that we would donate for our loved ones any day. We understood. I still didn't want her to donate just for my sake, but she was determined. I couldn't stop her now, but I sure could try.

"Fine." Uncle Tony sighed. "I'll get my equipment after I draw his blood for the lab."

I heard the smile in Mick's voice as she thanked Uncle Tony repeatedly and gave him a hug. Mick climbed over me and snuggled up to my right side, her right hand still laced with my left. How did she do that? "I'm right here if you need to squeeze me or my hand."

"Not the one he's holding. If he squeezes with that hand while I'm taking blood from that arm, it will go everywhere and he will need even more blood." Uncle Antonio explained.

I slid my hand up to Mick's back before sliding it down and gripping one of Mick's hips as she held my shoulder. I heard Uncle Tony snort like he was holding back laughter as Mick tripped over her words. "I-It's alright, M-My King. I'm right here f-for you." Mick's head turned toward my left again. "Uncle Tony, is it alright if I distract him a little?"

Uncle Tony laughed. I think you already have! Haha! But, you never know. By all means, go right ahead."

I heard Mick giggle a little as she pressed her mouth to mine. I pushed my lips against hers as much as I could as I felt the needle prick into my arm. I could barely feel it as Mick's kiss made my whole body numb as usual. She has some sort of venom in her lips, I swear. Too soon for my liking, the kiss ended and Mick moved away as a piece of tape was slipped across the crease in my elbow. Oh, they are good at this!

Mick whispered to me again, "Um, Babe, do- uh, do you think you could, um, let go of my butt?" I could feel my face getting a lot hotter as I let my grip slide off of what I had assumed was Mick's hip. "We can save that for after the wedding, alright, Biagio?" I heard Mick giggle lightly in my ear before she moved.

I heard Uncle Tony whistle a bit as I felt my face turn the same shade of a cherry. "Good goin', Butchy. Good goin'. Alright, Mick, I'll go get my things and I'll be right back. If my nephew tries that again, just hit him."

"Okay, Uncle Tony. I'll be here." Mick giggled. "I actually didn't mind the butt grab all that much. He does it in his sleep all the time."

The two of them laughed at my expense for a moment before Uncle left the room. Mick put her head on my chest again and put her right leg between mine as she held me close. "I hope you aren't too mad at me for donating my blood. I just want you to know how much you mean to me and how much I want you to be able to come home. How much I want you to be able to say that you love me. How much I want you to hold me and tell me that everything will be alright."

Mick, you have no idea how much I want to tell you that I love you. I'm not mad at you for this, but I'll have to tell you later. It's been a couple days since my last attempt, why don't I try again? Nothing's stopping me and Mick needs to hear what I have to say.

"B-Ba-abe." I whispered hoarsely, hoping she could hear me at least a little as I squeezed her hand.

Mick's head flew off of my chest as the hand that had been on my waist came up to my cheek. "Butchy?" Mick whispered hopefully. "Did you just-? Babe, tell me you said something. Anything. Please."

"No-ot ma-ad. N-No-ot your-r fa-ault I-I'm he-ere." I hated the sound of how weak my voice was, but I was so glad that I could at least talk to my wife. "L-lov-ve yo-ou."

"Oh my gosh! Butchy! I love you too!" Mick squealed before holding my face in her hands and kissing me repeatedly. Mick made a sighing noise as she pulled away and pressed her forehead to mine. "You're okay. You're okay. Babe, I love you. I love you so, so much."

"I'm o-kay, My-y Qu-Que-en. S-Say my nam-me again. Soun-nds go-od fr-from yo-ou." I claimed before my throat squeaked and I coughed. Mick backed up a little to give me room to breath, but, as soon as I stopped, she pressed a kiss to my throat. I slowly dragged my eyes open as much as I could without the lights blinding me. I wanted to see Mick even more so now that she could remember me.

"I love you more, My King. Save your voice, okay?" Mick asked, as she moved to grab a cup of water from the table next to me. "I want you to be able to show Uncle Tony and Lela and all the Rodents that you're coming back and better than ever. Biagio, you are my miracle."

Mick helped me take sips of water as she rubbed her eyes with her free hand. I watched Mick carefully place the cup on the table before she leaned back into my arms and smiled up at me. "You have no idea how much I was worrying about this. Now, I see you and everything actually is starting to feel real."

I opened my mouth a little, but Mick cut me off, "You can tell me when you are strong and stable enough to do stuff without pain."

I smiled a bit before moving my hand up from the bed, across her arms, and to her hair. We laid like that for a while until the door to my hospital room opened. "Hello?" a girl's voice asked.

Mick's eyes widened before hardening as she sat up, putting my arm back on the bed before heading toward the door. "You have a lot of nerve coming here, Juliet."

Juliet sighed. "I know. I just- ... I know how much you hate me and you have every right to. I just thought you might like some kind of explanation."

"What kind of explanation?" Mick asked as she let the blonde walk across the room and sit in the window sill.

"An explanation for everything. Every single thing that nobody else knew happened in the past month or so." Juliet explained, toying with the lace of her sneakers.

Mick closed the door to the room and sat in the window across from Juliet. "Alright. Explain away."

"Not everything is something you can tell other people." Juliet looked to Mick anxiously. "Promise you won't tell anyone, Mick?"

"Of course, Juliet." Mick smiled.

"Take it to the grave?"

"Take it to the grave."

"To start things off, I'm not some lost girl who just ended up here..." Juliet took a deep breath. "I am- I mean was the First Lady of the Sparx. My ex-boyfriend was Xander."

 _Got a secret, can you keep it? Swear this one you'll save. Better lock it in your pocket, taking this one to the grave. If I show you then I know you won't tell what I said... 'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead._

 **"Mick?"**

 **"Yes, Juliet?"**

 **"I have something I want to tell you but you have to promise never to tell anyone."**

 **"I promise."**

 **"Do you swear on your life?"**

 **"I swear on my life."**


	12. Helplessness

_**Hey, guys! I have a confession to make... I'm writing a book! It's going to be published and sold as soon as I'm finished, but I'm really putting my heart into it. I have decided on a name that is simple, yet good and I'm really excited. I'm going to try updating my fanfics as much as possible, but, for now at least, you might have to suffer through my sporadic updates.**_ ** _I realize that I also left out the bloopers at the end of the last chapter_** ** _and chapter nine_** ** _, but I will definitely be putting them in the next chapter._** _ ****_ _ **The PoV has changed to Mick, just so you know**_.

 _ **CherryGorilla, you, my friend, are awesome. Thank you for**_ _ **addressing**_ _ **the matter about Butchy and Mick being Antonio's kids' Uncle and Aunt because I didn't realize it until now. I personally do that to my cousins who are older than me or if I have a deep respect for them. You're right on the fact that they are cousins, but it's a random thing I've done my whole life and Butchy is older than the oldest of the kids so it's that strange thing I just have to do or I feel awkward and I seriously don't know why. By the way, I always love a long review!**_

 ** _Sorry for the reeeeealy late update, but I was writing my book and_** ** _checking out colleges/universities_** ** _since my plans for a Florida college fell through_** ** _and time was not in the right place for it. Now, I have a new computer and I'm ready to go again._**

 ** _Anyway, enjoy!_**

* * *

"To start things off, I'm not some lost girl who just ended up here..." Juliet took a deep breath. "I am- I mean _was_ the First Lady of the Sparx. My ex-boyfriend was Xander..."

Juliet's confession rung in my head like a bell in the top of a clock tower. It wouldn't stop. I guess it made sense in a strange way. I knew she had to be different, but I thought it was just my hatred for her. I had no idea. I have no other way to explain it. My brain felt like it just went through the washing machine, it was _that_ kind of weird. It's like those days where your brain doesn't function properly because of the rainy, yucky weather! I guess that's an okay way of putting it. I felt like my brain was in some sort of snow storm. I felt like I was frozen. I hadn't left the window. I hadn't moved. I hadn't spoken.

Apparently, my silence was torture to Juliet. Everything she had to say, came tumbling out in a rush. "I know that this might peg me as the bad guy and I know that I tried to tear apart you and Butchy, but I swear, I never meant for this to happen! As soon as I found out that Xander had used the information I got from everybody at Big Momma's, I left him and the Sparx in the dust and came to apologize. When I got there, you guys had already left for Launcher Hill and I knew it was too late, but I had to find you guys and tell you all of this. I fear that Xander is going to try to kill Butchy, Mick. He's psychotic. He won't stop until Sparx is the only biker gang around."

I nodded numbly before glancing at Butchy. "I won't let him anywhere near any one of us, let alone Butchy. What made you decide that coming here was a good idea? Last time we saw each other, that I remember at least, I dumped a milkshake on you."

Juliet nodded with a light exhale, "I deserved it. At the time, my only focus was getting you and Butchy separated so Xander could mess with Butchy's head before the race. Then, you lost your memory and you treated me so nicely. At first, I was confused; you had hated me only days before and I didn't know what was going on. I brought it up to Xander and he knew all about it. Apparently, he had been, for lack of a better term, drugging you. Do you remember getting a box of chocolates from an anonymous person before you lost your memory?"

I thought for a moment, attempting to collect any memories of chocolates. I nodded, "Yeah. It was random, but I thought it was from Butchy. I thought it was an 'I'm sorry' gift because he was gone all the time. It was a small box and I was hungry, so I had it with my lunch the day I started feeling unlike myself. That was the day I lost my memory."

"Did anybody else eat any?" Juliet pressed, staring at me with a distressed hope in her eyes.

I shook my head. "No, I asked if anybody wanted one, but they were busy with my dress and didn't want to get any chocolate stains on it."

"Good. Well, not good because it had medicine in it, but good because it didn't get into anybody else," Juliet quickly finished talking and let out a deep breath.

"What was it called?" I asked, silently hoping it wasn't any of the medicines I had thought of.

"The drug? Morphine. Why?"

Well, to heck with that hope.

"I'm allergic to morphine." I sighed, "That's why my body acted the way it did. To most people, the morphine relaxes the body and makes any pain easier to bear. For me, I get hallucinations, seizures, problems with breathing and, once, when I was little, I almost entered a coma because a new nurse gave me an extra dose." I inhaled deeply before sighing to myself, "How on _E_ _arth_ did my life end up like this?"

Juliet shook her head, "I don't know, Mick. Now, I don't know that much about you, but I know that you don't deserve this. Nobody does. You're a good person and so is Butchy. Neither one of you deserve this, especially before your wedding. I see how much you both love each other and I honestly don't want Xander to ruin this. You guys deserve to be together; I realize this. I know, an apology isn't enough, but, if I hadn't gone with Xander in the first place, none of this would've happened. So, for that and everything else that's happened, I'm, truly, deeply sorry."

"Juliet," I started, "I accept your apology. I know what it's like for one little thing to change everything in your life. For me, it was talking to Lela on my first day in town. It's caused me to be with Butchy and to have an amazing family in both the surfers and bikers alike. I know that what you did will never be okay, but I do accept your apology because it takes a lot of courage to understand what you've done and to admit it. Also, I have the feeling that you might not do this ever again."

"Never!" Juliet exclaimed, shaking her head hurriedly. "This has been enough of an emotional roller-coaster. I'm way beyond ready to get off of this ride."

"I know what you mean." I nodded with a small smile before turning to Juliet with a serious expression. "Do you have any more news on what Xander could do? Anything would be beneficial at the moment."

"It's not much, but I know that he had been planning on kidnapping you sometime in the future. If it would distract Butchy and make him fall for the trap, it was good to Xander. I feel so stupid for going with him in the first place. I was so blind..."

"Well, if I hadn't asked him about the Harley piece, he wouldn't have made the connection between Butchy and me," I sighed, "We can't blame just one of us when it was both of us. I do have to say, though, Juliet, I'm really thankful that you came over."

"What?" Juliet pondered, "After all that I've told you, how are you thanking me?"

"It takes a strong woman to admit what she's done. It isn't easy. For that, I thank you."

Juliet nodded slowly, a small, barely noticeable smile on her face as she moved from her spot and headed for the door. "Mick, if you need anything, anything at all, let me know. I'm here for you."

I nodded, taking a deep breath as I moved over toward Butchy's left side, "I will, Juliet. Thank you."

As the door clicked shut behind Juliet, I sighed out a few deep breaths. I knew I needed to calm myself down, however, it was exceedingly hard to do so after just being told that Butchy's life and my own were, more than likely, in danger. I slowly ran a hand through my hair, letting my grip tighten on the strands at the back of my neck before letting go. My left hand toyed with my engagement ring to distract myself, but it wasn't helping. My free hand slid over the blankets to grab Butchy's, but as I moved to grab his bandaged hand, I noticed a slight tremble that made me freeze.

I lifted my hand from Butchy's bed and, upon the realization that the shakiness wasn't going away, I held it over my chest and inhaled unevenly. I could feel my heart pulsing against my palm through the thin fabric of my shirt; why was it beating so fast? I heard Butchy say something, so I tried to look over at him, his voice momentarily distracting me from the panic. I took a breath in, but coughed. I swallowed thickly, but my throat was too tight, so I ended up choking on it instead. As I caught my breath again, I felt the air in the room get colder, almost smotheringly so, and I turned to sit on the edge of the bed. A twinge of pain shattered inside my rib cage, making me gasp sharply. I tried to take another deep breath, but it was like trying to breathe underwater; it wasn't working.

I felt my stomach get tight with fear as my heart's beat got faster and rougher. Involuntarily, I made a choked, panicked noise and my knees gave out, forcing me to my hands and knees next to the bed. I shakily inched myself into a seated position, resting my head against the metal bar of Butchy's bed. I heard Butchy mumble something, but I couldn't understand him. It was like he had joined my lungs underwater, I could hear his voice, but not his words. I heard a faint click and a slightly louder beeping noise, but I was quickly distracted. I felt my stomach clench again and, before I could attempt to get rid of the feeling, I was hunched over the cheaply made plastic trash can, expelling the grilled cheese I had for dinner the previous night into the white trash bag.

My eyes watered after dry-heaving a few times, so I leaned away from the trash bin and wiped the moisture from my eyes. I sensed my throat burning, but I only focused on how my heart was doing. After taking a few moments to get my twitching and shaking under control, I pressed my hand to where my chest had been hurting and, surprisingly, my heart was thumping just a bit quicker than it usually was. I hardly felt anything other than disgust after pushing the bucket aside and laying down on the cold hospital floor. The room slowly started to feel warmer and the cold, checkered floor started to feel nice against my overheating skin. I inhaled through my nose and closed my eyes, sucking in a few shaky breaths before I heard the door to the room click open and a set of footsteps get closer.

I slowly opened my eyes as a shadow loomed over me; through all the blinding hospital room lights, I could just barely make out Uncle Antonio's face. He knelt down by my head and slowly lifted me so I rested against his chest. I heard him say something, but I didn't fully register it. "Huh?" I muttered softly.

"What happened, Makana?" Uncle Tony asked again.

"I dunno," I whispered. "It was so cold. Everything was spinning and it hurt so much. My heart was beating hard and I started getting scared. Then my chest was too tight and my throat closed up. I started choking. I couldn't breathe, Uncle Tony. I couldn't breathe!"

"Shh," Uncle Tony shushed as he pushed two fingers against pulse point on the inside of my wrist. "That sounds like an anxiety attack, but you're better now, little one. It's okay. Breathe deeply or it might happen again."

I took a breath in and forced myself to relax in Uncle Antonio's grasp. I heard movement from the bed next to us. "M...Mick?"

I looked up and saw that the upper half of Butchy's bed was raised so he could see over the edge and to us on the floor. I locked eyes with his chocolate colored ones and I could see the worry in them. I forgot he had asked me something. I was just focused on the fact that Butchy was not only talking and looking at us without too much strain, but was also forcing himself to sit up because _I_ wasn't doing well. Thankfully, Uncle Tony answered Butchy's open question for me.

"Biagio, she will be fine," Uncle Tony claimed reassuringly. "These things are not uncommon with all of the stress you both are under. I am sure that after some rest and extra fluids, she will be fine. The stress of everything just caught up with her."

"I need to brush my teeth," I breathed. "Grilled cheese tastes nasty the second time around."

"I don't doubt that," Uncle Antonio chuckled. "Do you think you can stand, Mick?"

I shrugged in exhaustion. "Only one way to find out."

With Uncle Antonio's help, I was able to balance on my own to feet again. My knees still shook, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been. Instead of heading for the bathroom, I turned to Butchy and stared into his eyes again, putting my hand on his cheek. "Get some rest. You need to rest or you'll aggravate your shoulder."

"Not with..." Butchy cleared his throat softly, "without y-you."

"Biagio, don't worry about me," I insisted.

Butchy's head moved slightly, as though he was trying to shake his head. "Al-Always wor-ry 'bout you."

Uncle Tony took my shoulder lightly. "Mick, he will still be waiting when you get back. He's too stubborn to back down, even when he's injured."

I nodded, rubbing Butchy's cheek once more before turning and letting Uncle Tony lead me to the bathroom. I quickly scrubbed my mouth clean, gargling the hospital provided mouthwash to get rid of any leftover nastiness. I balanced myself on the way back into the other room, using the wall next to the door as support and making my way back to the beds. Uncle Antonio followed me to make sure I wouldn't buckle again. True to what his uncle had told me, Butchy was still sitting up, watching my every move with his piercing brown eyes like it would help me stay stable.

I turned around and sat on the bed I had been staying on for a couple nights; it was more comfortable than I remembered.

Uncle Tony said something about getting me something to calm me down and left the room as soon as he had finished putting Butchy's bed back to a resting position with the head piece up only a little bit. Butchy sighed next to me and I looked over at him. His eyes were hard as he looked out the window not far from his bed. "I watched."

"Watched?" I asked quietly.

Butchy inclined his head slightly before turning his head to me. "The wh-ole thing."

"You watched me when I was having the anxiety attack?" I reiterated for him.

Butchy hummed in agreement. His eyes glimmered sadly as he continued, "I couldn't help. You needed me… and I couldn't..." Butchy swallowed thickly and cut himself off.

I reached over and took his hand, a small, electric zap tingling up from my hand. "It's alright, Butchy, I know you couldn't get up out of bed and help me. You can't exactly help me like this."

Butchy's eyes watered as he whispered to me, "If I can't help... the woman I love… I'm worthless."

"No you aren't," I stated firmly. "Biagio, if that is the only requirement for someone to be labeled as worthless, then I fit that, not you."

Butchy squeezed my hand tightly, his eyes still watery, but also upset at my words. "Take that back."

"No." I shook my head. "I couldn't help you when you got into the accident. All I could do was watch in fear, hope that you'd be okay and that you would live. If anyone in this room should be called worthless, it should be me."

"But, I jus' sat here...I had t' call… nurse's station for help," Butchy slowly said.

"You called for the nurse?" I murmured and, in response, Butchy pointed his left hand to the array of buttons on the bed remote. One button had the picture of a nurse with the words 'Nurse Call' under it. "That's more than I did. I sat there, holding you and crying. You called for someone to help me."

"Uncle Tony said..." Butchy took in a deep breath, "You stopped th' bleeding... I would've died."

I felt my eyes stinging at the memory. "I wasn't going to lose you. I did the only thing I could think of," I sighed shakily and tightened my grip on his hand. "You'd do the same for me. Heck, you _did_ do the same for me. I thought I was going to die since I couldn't breathe. I heard you trying to talk to me, but my brain wouldn't connect the words, so I would try to focus on you. It worked, but when I tried, something new would happen and I'd get scared all over again."

"I was terrified of losing you," Butchy admitted, glancing away as he did. "I kept saying your name."

"I'm glad you did. If you didn't distract me, I don't know if I'd be okay right now." I shook my head. "I'm scared of losing you, too, but I'm also afraid of being lost and leaving you alone again."

Butchy tugged his hand out of mine and reached up, lightly brushing away some tears that had fallen from my eyes. I looked up at him and saw him smile lightly even though he had his own tears threatening to spill. "I love you." Butchy said, his voice backing his statement.

"I love you too," I said softly, moving over so I was next to him. I leaned over and pressed my lips to his in a gentle kiss. When we separated, I put my forehead to his and gazed into his dark eyes. He had this ring of gold around his pupils that seemingly glimmered every time he felt strongly about something.

Butchy exhaled shakily and closed his eyes. "I can't wait to hold you without pain again. I want to listen to your heart. I haven't heard it since you lost your memory." When Butchy reopened his eyes, tears that had clung to his lashes now slashed on his cheeks. He leaned back and reached up to wipe them away, but I grabbed his hand.

"Biagio, I'm here." I slowly pressed his palm to my chest, his fingertips pressed against a pulse point on my neck and his palm over my heart. My heart pulsed and pumped against his hand, making fresh tears surface in his eyes. "I am not going anywhere. I'm alive and safe."

Butchy shuddered as his breathing got ragged, "I love you so much. I don't think you'll ever know how much I love you, My Queen."

"Maybe not. But it's not nearly as much as I love you, My King."


End file.
